Unexpected Findings
by MASHlover23
Summary: The men of Easy Company, are relatively new to Toccoa Camp, and are excited when a new group of nurses are assigned to the base hospital. Bill Guarnere, is less than thrilled when he discovers that he knows one of the new nurses Viola rather closely. Eugene Roe develops a strong bond with Viola which carries on throughout the rest of the the war, even when they are apart. Eugene/OC
1. A Shocking Arrival

**A/N: This story is just for fun, and I in no way wish to make fun of the real men who served in Easy Company.**

**This is story is for all of you Eugene Roe lovers out there. :) **

* * *

Bill Guarnere was turning his footlocker inside out trying to find where he had placed his lighter, or one of the seven packages of matches he obtained from the various men of Easy Company who didn't smoke. After ten minutes, he gave up.

"Hey Joe, pass me a light!" Guarnere called out to his friend who was lying on the bunk across from him.

"I ain't got no light," Joe Toye scoffed, annoyed that Guarnere had interrupted the article on baseball he was reading.

"What the hell do you mean you ain't got no light?" Guarnere cried out indignantly.

"The hell you think I mean!? I don't have a fucking light!" Toye yelled back, irritated.

"How the hell am I going to smoke this?" Guarnere could hear his Philly accent becoming more apparent as his irritation grew. "My old man sent me this Cuban cigar and I'd like to smoke it before any other moron figures out I have it and wants in on it!"

"Hurray for you and your cigar, I don't have a light so shut up about it!" Toye yelled, waving his hand around.

Guarnere waved his hand back in annoyance. "Then I'll go find somebody who has a light and a brain!"

"Good, now I don't have to hear your dumb ruckus," Toye muttered to himself as Guarnere left.

Guarnere wandered around the various rows of barracks trying to find somebody from Easy Company who would lend him a light. He was unsuccessful until he rounded the corner that brought him to the front of the base hospital, which was parallel to the front gate.

Luz, Liebgott, Malarky, Shifty, and Muck were all standing around in front of the hospital, smoking. Bill changed his pace from a casual stroll to a jog; he didn't know why the men would be congregated around the hospital unless somebody from Easy was hurt.

"Hey guys, is everything okay…?" Bill asked as he reached the group.

"Hunky dory," Malarky replied.

"Life is just fabulous." Luz remarked with a grin as wide as the Mississippi river.

Bill knew from the cheer in their voices that they were telling the truth. "Then why the hell are you guys all the way over here by the hospital?"

"You, my friend, will find out in exactly thirty seconds," Luz said as he patted Guarnere's shoulder.

"Yeah, Shifty here heard a great little piece of news when he passed HQ this morning on his way to the showers," Muck informed Bill.

All of a sudden the rumble of jeep motors became apparent from behind a gate. The gates swung open and a convoy of five jeeps entered the compound. The men from Easy Company let out a chorus of whoops and hollers. Toccoa base was getting a shipment of brand spanking new nurses.

"Holy cow! Look at them! Five voluminous, genuine American made women! I don't know which one to try for first!" Malarky crudely announced.

"Pfft, like any one of them would have you," Liebgott replied, amazed by the men's giddiness.

"Beautiful!" Luz catcalled to the group of nurses who were now out of their jeeps and were congregated about thirteen feet away from the men.

The nurses were in a circle and busily chattering away while glancing at the hoard of shouting Easy men, when a man came out from the hospital and headed toward them. To the men, it looked like they were being given orders about where to report to. The nurses began to walk in the direction of the Easy men so they could assemble around the back of the hospital.

"Here they come, boys!" Luz announced, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

Despite the men's various attempts to get their attention, the nurses passed the men without saying a single word. They did, however, shoot a few seductive looks and smiles in Easy's direction.

The first four nurses made Guarnere smile ear to ear. They were beautiful. He couldn't wait til the weekend to try and get with one of them on leave. However, the last nurse in the lineup made his face fall and his heart sink.

It couldn't be her. It shouldn't be her… Holy shit, it was her!

"Viola!" Guarnere shouted and ran up to the last nurse.

Viola's plump lips were pursed and her dark brown eyes open in shock when she heard her name being called. She stopped dead in her tracks and didn't turn around right away.

When Bill reached Viola, he put a hand on her shoulder and spun her around. "Jesus Christ, it is you."

She gaped at him. "Brother?"


	2. Ole' Gonorrhea's Sister

**Author's Note: (SEE END OF CHAPTER)**

* * *

"What are you doing here?!" Bill demanded. The last thing he expected when he rolled out of his bunk in the morning was to meet his sister. It had been almost a year since Bill had seen Viola. Last he saw of her, she had just moved back home to Philadelphia from Chicago, for a nursing job at Thomas Jefferson Hospital. Bill thought Viola looked quite well, despite the fact that her dress uniform was a size to large.

"I'm assigned here, what the hell do you think?!" Viola answered back assertively, with a Philly accent thick enough to match Bill's.

"When did you sign up? I thought you loved your job back home!?"

"In 41'! What's it to you?!" Viola was highly irritated by her younger brother's interrogation. Out of all the military hospitals in the States, she had to be assigned to the base where Bill was. She enlisted in the Nursing Corps to get away from her overbearing family…

"Your my damned sister that why!" Bill waved his hands up in agitation, "Why didn't you tell me about this in your letters?!"

"My career choice isn't any of your concern. Looks who's talking! You volunteered to jump out of a perfectly good airplane for Christ sake!"

"I wrote you that I enlisted so don't you use that argument with me! I'm your brother, of course it's my concern Viola! I should know what's going on in your life!"

"Oh, so now you want me to inform you when I plan to take a piss too!?"

* * *

Luz, Leibgott, Shifty, Muck and Malarky were standing there with the mouths gaping. They were absolutely stunned by the odd spectacle happening before them. Viola and Guarnere were arguing at each other so fiercely, it was almost impossible for the to keep up.

"That gal sure has a hell of a bark." Malarky stated, unsure as to whether or not it turned him on.

"Her bite is probably just as bad." Muck said dryly.

"She sure is putting Gonorrhea in his place though." Liebgott was impressed by Viola.

"Those two sound like screeching badgers." Shifty drawled in his Virginian fashion.

"Sure is good looking gal'." Luz said in his usual joking manner. He was amused that a woman could fluster the toughest man in Easy Company so much.

All of a sudden the men heard the shouting stop, and saw Guarnene wave up his hands in defeat. Bill then headed back towards the Easy men. The group walked towards Guarnere, very eager to know what just happened.

"That fine looking nurse is your sister?" Luz asked a little bit too jovially.

"Yeah, what are the chances that she gets assigned here?" Guarnere spat back, clearly still wound up.

"Well I think I speak for all of us I think when I say that she is-" Malarky got cut off by Guarnere.

"No you may not! I am going to say this right now, nobody, and I mean _nobody_ is gonna lay one hand on Viola!"

"Yeah and what if we do?" Malarky joked as he flicked his finished cigarette to the ground. His body stiffened in shock when Guarnere grabbed him by the shirt collar.

"Then I'll break every fucking bone in your body." Guarnere whispered harshly into Malarky's ear. He let go of Malarky after a few seconds, and then he walked away from the group. He needed his own space before suffering through Sobel's afternoon lecture.

When Bill was out of earshot Malarky spoke up in a attempt to regain his dignity, "Yeesh what's his time of the month."

* * *

Viola caught up with her friend Mabel who waited up for her by the side of the hospital, "What was that all about?" Mabel exasperated.

Viola sighed deeply. She didn't really feel like explaining the situation to Mabel, but she knew if she didn't, Mabel wouldn't let up on it. Viola loved her to death, but Mabel always wanted to know everything about everything which drove Viola crazy some days.

"That was my brother…"

"Your brother, which one? I can never keep up with your huge family."

"Bill."

Mabel scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, "I thought Bill was the one you talked to the most?"

Viola sighed once more. The last thing she wanted to do right then was explain the Guarnere family dynamic to Mabel, "He is."

"Then why were you two yelling at each other like you were going to rip each other to shreds?!"

Before Viola could answer, the obnoxiously bubbly blonde nurse whom got transferred from Fort Dix with Mabel and Viola, popped out from around the corner of the hospital, "Come on girls, the head nurse is waiting for you two. She is getting _very_ impatient."

"Let's go." Viola said to Mabel as she followed the blonde nurse.

When they reached the back of the hospital, the other nurses Viola and Mabel had traveled with were standing at attention in front of an old, crotchety looking nurse, who appeared to be in her mid-fifties. Her thin flabby lips pursed in disdain, as her piercing blue eyes narrowed at the sight of Viola and Mabel. The girls took note of the older nurse's death glare and quickly got in line at attention with the other nurses.

"Now that we are _finally_ all assembled, I shall introduce myself." The older nurse looked right at Viola and Mabel, "I am Captain Braxton, and I am in charge of the nursing staff here at Toccoa Camp. I have been in the Nursing Corps since 1917, served in France during the war, was stationed in Italy for three years, and England for six more after the war. I have seen it all and done it all ladies. I believe my command is strict, but fair. We nurses are a small handful here at Toccoa, therefore we must all pull our weight evenly. Any misconduct will be treated with prompt and vigorous punishment. Is that understood?"

"Yes Mam'!" The nervous nurses answered in unison.

"Now, the structure to your left is the hospital. The small cluster of tents directly ahead of you the nurse's quarters, and the building your left is the supply depot. Beside the supply depot is the nurse's showers. You will notice that it is far away from any of the male's barracks or facilities... Any questions ladies?"

The bubbly blonde nurse spoke up, "Do we usually get weekends off Mam'?"

"Weekend duty is on a rotational basis, except if somebody volunteers for it. Any other questions?" There was a silence, "Alright, now these gentlemen here will show you to quarters." Captain Braxton motioned to two corpsmen standing off to the left, "You can unpack your belongings, and then report back to me inside the hospital at 14:00 hours for assignments."

The line of nurses saluted Captain Braxton, and then Captain walked away.

Viola and Mabel looked at one another, and knew they were thinking the exact same thing; serving under Captain Braxton would just be a hoot and a holler…

* * *

"Today's lecture is on the importance of hydration on the battlefield."

Guarnere sighed in agony to himself. Sobel's lectures were about as exciting watching paint dry, but he knew the information was important none the less. As Sobel droned on, Guarnere's concentration wandered. He felt bad for yelling at Viola like he did. He suspected that she wasn't happy being back in Philly. The past few years had been rough on her, and he knew she didn't get along with the family... so her enlisting really shouldn't have been such a punch in the gut.

Before he knew it the sound of Sobel's voice ceased, and Geroge Luz hit Bill harshly on the shoulder, "Come on Bill lets go, lecture's over."

Bill looked around to see that the men were leaving the classroom, excited that Sobel had finally finished. He shook his head in an attempt to rid his mind of Viola, and followed the men outside into the compound. Bill and Luz joined Toye who was talking with Malarky.

"Here asshole." Toye threw a pack of matches at Bill's chest, "Took them out of Talbert's footlocker."

"Thanks." Bill murmured as he dug in his pockets for his pack of cigarettes. Viola had totally made him forget about his previous argument with Joe.

"You got that hitch out of your giddy up yet Gonorrhea?" Malarky asked casually with a hint of sarcasm.

Toye shot a confused look at the grinning redhead.

After Bill lit his smoke and took a puff, he rested the cigarette between two fingers, "A whole damn year and she never mentioned the fact that she signed up once."

Still confused Toye spoke up, "The hell you guys talking about?"

"Heyyy" Luz's East Coast voice boomed, "Joe here hasn't heard the news!"

"What Sobel got transferred?" Toye remarked dryly. Sobel's lecture had given him one hell of a headache.

"If only." Bill muttered to himself as he took a drag of his smoke.

"New nurses!" Malarky chimed in sounding like child excited to open his Christmas gifts.

"Hey that's great!" Joe chuckled deeply. He was stunned though, as to why Bill cringed when Malarky mentioned the nurses.

"What I said still stands, and I mean it! I don't give a shit if they throw me out of the god damned military." Bill announced to the men, with the distinct sharpness of anger visible in his brown eyes.

"Christ Bill we get it already." Malarky scoffed.

"Ah I'll see you guys later." Bill said as he threw his finished cigarette onto the ground and walked away towards the direction of the hospital.

"He's sour because he found out that his sister is assigned to the base hospital." Luz stated as he lighted himself another cigarette.

"Yeah apparently he didn't even know she signed up." Malarky said.

"They were yelling at each other for at least a good five minutes." Luz added.

Toye nodded and crossed his arms; he knew Bill's family was important to him, "What did he say that is so serious…?"

"Threatened to pulverize any Easy company man who tried to get with her." Malarky said with a slight shudder.

"So good ole' Gonorrhea's Sister." Toye laughed.

With his hands Luz waved out an hourglass shape the air, "A beeaauutiful one!"

* * *

"Lieutenant Wilder." Captain Braxton announced. Mabel stepped forward as Braxton continued, "You will inventory all the medications on this list in the supply room." She handed Mabel a clipboard.

"Yes Mam." Mabel said and quickly left the ward.

"Now who does that leave?" Braxton addressed the only remaining nurse, "Ah yes, the tardy one, Lieutenant _Guarnere._" Braxton puffed herself out and pursed her lips, "Do you have any excuse as to why you were delayed in reporting to me this morning when you first arrived on base?"

"No excuse Mam." Viola replied obediently, despite her urge to wipe that smug look off of the head nurse's face.

"Lieutenant I expect my nurses to observe and practice strict militaristic discipline at all times. I simply will not put up with any disruptions."

"Yes Mam." Viola replied as she saw the khaki painted wooden doors at the front of the ward open and a solider step inside. Her gut clenched slightly when she realized that it was Bill. As Braxton continued on with her spiel, Viola glanced over to Bill who was leaning against the wall by door, with that all too familiar asshole grin on his face.

"You are on my radar Lieutenant Guarnere…. You will be on ward duty until 22:00 hours Lieutenant. Dismissed." Braxton promptly spun around on her heels and exited through the back doors of the ward.

A tall man in a white lab coat approached Viola before she could get over to Bill. The man introduced himself as Dr. Yates, and informed her of the two cases in the ward which were not serious at all. The doctor instructed her to send an orderly to come and get him if there was any problem, and then he left.

After the doctor left, Bill strolled towards Viola, "Well, well, well, in trouble already are we?" He teased her.

Viola slapped his shoulder, "It's your fault you know!" She was half kidding and half serious. Since Bill was old enough to talk, the two of them had been getting each other into trouble.

Bill pulled his sister into an embrace, "I'm sorry Vi, I shouldn't have went off on you like that."

"It's okay, I am sorry too," Viola's said as she pulled away from him, "I should have written you about signing up."

Bill rested his hands on Viola's shoulders and teased her, "Ah well maybe I can forgive you if you come out for drinks with me tomorrow night if my CO doesn't revoke our damned passes again."

"I'd like that." She smiled.

Upon hearing the answer he wanted, Bill returned his hands to his side, "So Ma and Pa, how'd they take you signing up?"

Viola let out a sarcastic snort, "I was packed, and on my way out the door of the house, to catch the bus to basic when I told them. So I am sure that is just another check mark in their bad box."

Bill shook his head. Of course. That would be the only way they would have let her leave anyways, "Don't worry about them, I'll write them and let them know what's going on with you."

"Thanks asshole." Viola smiled. Before she could say anything else Captain Braxton seemed to appear out of thin air.

"Lieutenant there is reports to fill out! Stop fraternizing with the soldiers! " Braxton barked.

Viola sucked in her lips to try and stifle a smirk, "Yes Mam."

Bill winked at his sister and took his cue to leave. On his way back to the Easy Company Barracks he smiled to himself. His big sister and Army Nurse, somehow he knew it was just the right fit for her.

* * *

**Authors Note: Thank you to the three people who are following this story. It's nice to know people are interested lol. **

**This chapter is a bit slow, but I promise the next one will pick up the pace. Eugene will come into the picture as well ;) **

**I enjoy reviews, good or criticism. Please let me know what you think! :) **


	3. Pleasure to Make Your Acquaintance

**Disclaimer: I only own the character's you do not recognize from HBO's Band of Brothers. This story is purely fiction and is for entertainment purposes. I mean no offence to the real men of Easy Company. I only wish to portray the characters portrayed by the actor's in HBO's Band of Brothers.**

* * *

"Viola… VIOLA!"

I open my very heavy eyelids to see Mabel standing over me in the fashion Ma used to when I slept in late for school.

"Grhgm…" I try to tell her to go away, but apparently my mouth is still asleep. I close my eyes and roll over so I am facing the wall of the tent. Hopefully Mabel will just disappear...

"Get up! Don't you want to eat breakfast!?"

I don't reply… I am so god damned tired. Captain Braxton decided to shove a ginormous pile of unfinished inventory reports at me an hour before I was to be off duty. She told me that I couldn't leave until all THIRTY of them were completed.

"I just went to sleep two hours ago. Leave me alone…" I mumbled into my pillow too tired to address Mabel directly.

She let out a irritated huff of air as her feet stomped towards the direction of the door, "I'll be back in an hour. You have duty at 09:30 in the supply building."

After the door slammed shut, I rolled over and went right back to sleep.

* * *

Eugene Roe was sitting at a table in the corner by himself, picking at his miscoloured eggs with a fork. He really wasn't feeling breakfast at all that morning. Before he returned to barracks last night after his shower, Lieutenant Winters informed him that he was ordered by Captain Sobel to report to the classroom H2 at 08:00.

Eugene knew what it meant when a solider was asked to report to classroom H2. The results of your medical aptitude testing had come back to your CO…

"Hey mind if I sit here?"

The tired voice brought Eugene out of his fog. He looked up to see a face of a familiar looking Fox Company man in front of him. This guy had blond hair, blue eyes, and seemed to be in his early twenties just like Eugene. Eugene couldn't seem to remember his name though due a mixture of being overtired, and extremely anxious.

"Sure go for it."

"Your Roe right?" The Private asked he sat down in front of Eugene.

Eugene managed to muster a little smile. "Yes. Call me Eugene."

"Well call me Sean then," Sean took a bite of his toast and continued, "or Olsen, whatever the hell you want. I overheard your CO Lieutenant Sobel, talking to my CO that your name was also on the list of 506th men that are to report to classroom H2 this morning."

Eugene shoved his unfinished tray aside disgusted by its contents, "Yeah. A medic... I am still trying to wrap my head around it."

Sean snorted in amusement, "I know what you mean. Like why would they pluck me? I have never wanted to be a doctor for a single moment in my life."

Eugene just silently shook his head. His stomach had been doing back flips ever since he was told the news. He had no idea if he had what it took to comfort a man who just had his leg or arm blown off.

"What about you? You study medicine or something?" Sean asked with a mouthful of toast.

"No," Eugene pressed his lips together, "I'm sure my CO had something with plucking me out though."

"No shit." Sean chuckled.

Eugene gave him a small smile, which was followed by a awkward silence of Sean eating, and Eugene swirling his coffee around in his cup. After what seemed like an eternity, Sean looked at his wristwatch and spoke up.

"Well its 07:40. Do you want to start heading over to the hospital?"

"Sure, it never hurts to be early." Eugene replied timidly.

The men got up, deposited their trays and cups in the bins by the door, and exited the Mess hall. Sean stopped outside the door of the Mess hall and fished two cigarettes out of his breast pocket. He extended one out towards Eugene. Eugene accepted Sean's gesture of friendship and pulled out his lighter. After lighting his and Sean's cigarette the pair started to slowly stroll towards the hospital.

"So where you from Eugene?" Sean asked with the cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"Bayou Chene, Louisiana." Eugene's face lit up with pride.

Sean chuckled. "Huh, explains the accent then."

Eugene took a long puff of his cigarette, enjoying the soothing feeling of the dry heat invading his lungs, "Where are you from?"

"Cheyenne, Wyoming."

Eugene nodded. It amazed him how this war had brought together men from all across the country for the same purpose.

"Say you think we will be around nurses a lot with all this medical training?" Sean asked.

"I don't know." Eugene replied simply, he hadn't really thought about it until Sean asked.

"Well I hope so. Boy oh boy it has been too long since I… you know." Sean said with a sly smile and a wink.

The men had reached the front steps of the hospital and stopped. Seeing the big red cross on the side of the building, reignited Eugene's nerves that the cigarette managed to take away.

"Should we go in?" Sean asked as he threw the butt of his cigarette to the ground.

Eugene took a final puff of his cigarette and threw it to the ground. He noticed that his hands were trembling, "How about one more smoke first?" Eugene said as he fished in his pants pocket for his pack of smokes.

"Sure." Sean put his hand out and dug for a pack of matches in his breast pocket.

As Eugene placed a smoke into Sean's outstretched hand, he noticed that Sean was trembling also.

"A god damned medic..."

* * *

"VIOLA YOU GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THIS BED RIGHT NOW!"

A startled yelp exited my mouth as my eyes flung open to see Mabel standing over me once again.

"Get up! Captain Braxton wants you to report to her at the hospital in ten minutes, and she says that you better not be late!"

I bury my face into my pillow, "It's been an hour already?"

"No she stopped me while I was on my way to breakfast. Now get up, get dressed, and be quick about it!" She shouted and left the tent hastily.

I sigh and lay still for a moment while I convince my muscles to move. Once I manage to swing my legs off of the edge of the cot the rest is easier. Once I am upright, I walk over to my foot locker and pull out a fresh regulation white summer cotton dress. I quickly change into it along with some nylons and my black nursing shoes. I then brush my thick mop of black hair up into a twist bun. I rummage in my footlocker for the bottle of perfume I bought back at the Fort Dix PX. When I find it, I spray a rather generous amount on in hopes that it will cover up the fact that I haven't showered yet. I then stop in front of the body length mirror by Mabel's bed.

Surprisingly this dress fits my short stature quite well. It even complements my figure somewhat. I have definitely lost weight since I enlisted that's for sure, but not so much that I look like a twig like Mabel. Once I tuck a few loose hairs back into my bun I am satisfied with my appearance. I quickly grab the pack of smokes on my nightstand, put them into the pocket in my sleeve and head out the door.

As I enter the hospital through the back doors to find Captain Braxton standing by the duty desk as ridged as a board. When her beady eyes snap in my direction I stand at attention.

"Reporting as ordered Mam."

"At ease Lieutenant. It's nice to see that you made it on time today."

I relax slightly and ignore her snark remark. For being as old as Moses she sure is a pistol whip still.

"Now," Braxton continues on, "Will you follow me to my office Lieutenant." She motions with her arm towards the small blinded office off to the right.

I nod and follow her lead. Once I am inside she closes the door, and motions for me to sit down on a kaki, fold out metal chair on the other side of her desk. I oblige and try to sit up as straight as I can to appear confident. Braxton seems like the type where appearances mean everything. Braxton pulls out a file from her khaki colored filing cabinet, and sets it down on her perfectly organised desk. As she flips through the file trying to whatever she is looking for, I gaze around at the room.

Khaki

Khaki is fucking _everywhere_. Khaki report folders, a Khaki fan, and even a khaki colored pencil holder… After all this time in the service, the Army's need to paint anything that doesn't move or breath khaki astounds me.

"Ah yes here we go." Braxton states formally as she plucks a piece of paper out of the file, "Now I would just like to discuss your service record. These are just standardized questions that I must ask everybody. What is your date and place of birth?"

"May 9th, 1918. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

"What is your full name?"

"Viola Susanna Guarnere."

"Marital status?"

"Single."

"Good the basics seem to be in order." Braxton continues, "It says here that before you enlisted on September 3rd, 1941, you worked in the emergency room at Mercy Hospital in Chicago Illinois for a year and a half approximately. Following that, you worked emergency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia for three months. You then worked emergency at Allegheny General for two months. After that you enlisted in the Nursing Corps if I am correct?" Braxton looks at me for confirmation.

"Yes Mam."

"Why did you decide to enlist Lieutenant Guarnere?"

"I thought that pretty soon America would have to enter the war so when we did, I wanted to be able to help out in the way I knew best through the means of nursing." I lied through my teeth.

The truth is that I couldn't stand my family trying to pry into my life every second of the day when I moved back home after Pittsburg didn't work out. I had to escape Philly, but I had nowhere to go. The Army seemed like the only option to save my sanity...

"Well for only being twenty-four your nursing record is pretty impressive. One year working trauma at either of those institutions equals two years of experience in my books. Based on your experience before joining the Corps, it is safe to say out of your nursing colleagues her at Toccoa you have the most experience, which, brings us to the reason I am speaking with you today."

Uh oh, here we go… "Yes Mam."

"As you know, the 506th Paratrooper Infantry Regiment is being trained here at Toccoa Camp. The results just came back from Washington yesterday of the 506th medical aptitude testing. The men found suitable to be trained as combat medics are assembling in classroom H2 in about fifteen minutes. Dr. Yates will be instructing the men three mornings a week on their medical training. I would like you to assist Dr. Yates in the instruction of first aid techniques and so forth. Do you think you are up for the task Lieutenant Guarnere?"

"Uh," I am speechless for a moment, "Yes Mam of course."

"Good." Braxton cracks a smile which looks that unnatural her face looks like it's about to break in two, "Now before I send you over to the classroom I would like to discuss one more matter." Her face returns to being stone cold serious once more, "It says here that you were reprimanded at Fort Dix for physically assaulting another nurse while off duty. Is that correct?"

"Yes Mam." I reply quietly.

Shit. I had just about forgotten about that incident. This nurse from Boston was such a loud mouth. She was always slipping away into supply closets with the Doctors… she was one of_ those _nurses. Anyways, this nurse found out that my last name was Guarnere, and she immediately started up on the not so clever Gonorrhea jokes which I have had to endure for as long as I could remember. After two weeks of listening to her go on and on about it, I snapped and punched her out square in the eye. She had one hell of a shiner for nearly a month afterwards. I got put on double duty for two months following the incident, but it was worth it because she finally shut her big trap.

"Now I hope nothing of that nature will happen in my hospital." Braxton forcefully states.

"No Mam." Weren't her two spiels on this stuff yesterday enough?! She must get off on being a old hag.

"Good." Braxton stands up and opens the office door, "Now please report to Dr. Yates in classroom H2. It is just down the hall from the ward, third door on the right. I will find somebody else to cover your supply duty. Dismissed."

I get up and leave her office. When I reach the front of the ward I take a left down the hallway that leads to the classrooms. As I am reading the signs on top of the doors, I suddenly feel a sharp pain as I collide with a body.

"God damn it." I reel backwards and just about fall onto my ass, but two strong hands grip my forearms, and pull me upright.

"I am so sorry! Are you alright Miss?"

I look up to the dark haired man holding me close to his chest. His deep brown eyes are searching my face to see if I am okay. The sincere nature of his expression stuns me for a moment.

"Miss?" He asks again with his odd accent which happens to snap me out of my daze.

"Yes, yes I am thank you." I reply softly with a hint of embarrassment. To my disappointment the man lets me go. I attempt to smooth out my wrinkled dress and regain my dignity.

"I am sorry. I was looking for classroom H2 and wasn't paying attention to where I was going Miss." The man says as his cheeks start to become red.

"Don't worry about it. I was doing the exact same thing actually." I smile and feel my own cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

"Um, I'm Gene, Eugene Roe." He introduces himself quietly as he puts his hands in his pockets and looks at his feet.

"Nice to meet you." I reply shyly with a small grin. There is an awkward pause and then I suddenly see Dr. Yates walk into the room two doors down from where Eugene and I are standing.

"I think the place we are looking for is down there." I gesture with my head to the direction behind Eugene.

He gives me a sheepish smile, "Thanks and sorry again." The shy solider then spins around and briskly heads towards the classroom with his head hanging down.

I stand there for a moment and watch him walk away. The shade of red still blatantly apparent on his cheeks is amusing. He was strangely shy and courteous for being a solider. He was quite good looking as well… I shake my head and clear those thoughts from my brain; I have a Doctor to report to.

* * *

I look up at the clock on the wall. It's 11:00 hours. I have been sitting on this wooden chair the front of the classroom for so long I can't feel my ass any longer. I wiggle my butt discretely in an attempt to regain some resemblance of circulation.

Dr. Yates couldn't possibly blab on any longer about his introduction into the, "Glory of Being a Combat Medic". I am so bored, that I have figured out that there are at least thirty-three objects in this room which are painted khaki for no particular reason. Seriously, there is something wrong with the Army…

From where I am sitting I can observe the men's reaction to Dr. Yates' spiel. As I scan the faces of the various 506th men sitting in this khaki purgatory, I notice that most of them bored out of their skulls like I am. One man in the very back right hand corner has even fallen asleep slouched over his desk. However, some of the men are as nervous as can be. Almost all of these men are biting their finger nails, chain smoking, or some bobbing their legs up and down ceaselessly.

One of these nervous men keeps intriguing me more than the others. Every time that I glance in the direction of Eugene, his eye's meet mine for a second. He then looks away and pretends to focus on fiddling with the pencil between his fingers, as his cheeks become rosy red. Every time this little routine occurs, butterflies seem to awaken in my stomach. I feel like a silly little school girl...

"And with that, our lecture on the introduction as to why field medicine is important to the allied war effort is concluded. I will see you all back here in this classroom at 08:00 hours on Monday morning."

With Dr. Yates' announcement, myself, as well as the rest of the men, spring to our feet and stampede towards the door. When I get out of the classroom, I head down the hallway and exit the ward through the hospital's front doors. The sheer, intense heat of the Georgian summer on my skin feels heavenly compared to the smoky, thick, dry air in the classroom.

I step off to the side and dig the pack of smokes out of my sleeve pocket. As I pick one out of the pack I realize I forgot my matches back in my tent and mutter a string of curses to myself. I look over to my right to see that Eugene is standing by himself a few feet away lighting himself a smoke. I put my pack of smokes back into pocket and take a deep breath for courage. As I approach Eugene the crunching of the dry dirt under my shoes makes Eugene look in my direction. He looks petrified when he realizes that I am approaching him.

"I was uh," My damn voice is shaking. Classy Viola, classy, "Do you think you could give me a lite? I forgot my matches in my tent and don't really feel like walking all the way back there." My heart is beating so fast I swear Eugene can hear it.

Much to my dismay he doesn't say anything right away. He just looks at me like I just asked him the most absurd question on this planet. After a second he nods his head, "Yes of course."

I put the cigarette in my hand, between my lips, and Eugene lights it up. After I take a drag of my cigarette I notice that Eugene is blushing.

"Thanks." I say quietly.

"No problem." Eugene pauses for a moment, "I'm sorry about before, I am not usually so clumsy."

"Don't worry about it." His apprehension makes me smile. I am about to ask him what he thought of the class, but a solider approaches us before I can.

"Hey Eugene, Sobel's making us run Currahee in fifteen minutes. You better go get changed into your PT gear."

"Alright thanks Luz." Eugene nods at the solider.

I recognize the solider from yesterday when I arrived on base. He was part of the group Bill was standing with. His cat calls were the loudest out and most obnoxious out of the group.

"Oh yeah and Liebgott and Perconte pissed off Sobel somehow so all of Easy's passes are revoked this weekend again."

Eugene nods disappointingly at this Luz guy again. Luz then quickly jogs away back towards the 506th barracks.

"Thanks for the lite. Both of us should probably get going." I say to Eugene. He smiles back at me and I begin to walk away towards the direction of my tent.

"Hey wait up." I hear Eugene call out from behind me a few moments later. I stop cold and turn around waiting for him to catch up to me, "I didn't get your name Miss."

"Viola." I answer, a little stunned by his interest.

"Well it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance Viola. I hope I'll see you around." Eugene says with a sincere tone.

"Same here." I smile.

Eugene then jogs away in the direction of the 506th barracks. As I walk to my tent I grin like a total moron... Eugene Roe...

* * *

**Author's Note: Thank you Jessie for your review. I really appreciate it. **

**Please read and review.**


	4. Whose Sister!

Disclaimer: The only things I own are the characters, and the plot line you do not recognize from HBO's Band of Brothers mini-series. I in NO WAY wish to offend the real men who served in Easy Company; the story is purely for entertainment purposes.

(See end of Chapter for Author's note)

* * *

I am lying on my bunk, filing down my nails, when Mabel comes storming into our tent.

"I am telling you Vi, the Devil himself is walking on Earth disguised as that old hag!"

"What on earth are you talking about?" I ask her, even though I am pretty sure I know what the answer will be.

She throws her hands up dramatically**, **"Braxton! She put me on double duty for the next two weeks, all because I was talking with this solider who stopped by supply when I was on duty!" She shouts as she frees her chestnut hair from the constraints of its bun.

"Just talking?" I wish I could say I am surprised, but I've come to find out that Braxton is known around here for her harsh discipline, so I'm not.

"Yes!" Mabel exclaims, tousling out her hair.

"Were you flirting with him Mabel?" Yet again, I already know the answer. Since I signed up, I've noticed that most Army nurses use flirting as a pastime to help the boring shifts go by faster. Mabel is no exception to the rule.

"Maybe…" The corners of her mouth crinkle upwards into a grin.

I sigh, and sit up so I am cross legged and facing Mabel. She is now sitting on the edge of her bed taking off her shoes, "Well there you go Mabel. You heard what Braxton said to us when we arrived here yesterday. She is a stickler for rules. Hell, I got chewed out yesterday for just talking to my brother when he came to see me while I was on ward duty."

Mabel lets out a disgusted whist of air, "God, when I am that old, I just hope I don't turn out like her."

"By her, you mean Braxton?"

"Yes! I would hate myself if I was that old and still in the service. Look at her Vi, she is so miserable. She gets joy out of making young women's life hell. When I am Braxton's age I want to be married, retired, and living in some nice big house where my children and grandchildren come to visit me all the time."

"She may be an old witch, but she seems to be good at her job. Why not stay in the service then? Or maybe she wanted a life like you described, but it just didn't work out? Hell, she may even have a family! We can't judge, we've only know her for two days Mabel." I suggest, feeling a little sympathetic for Braxton, although I don't know why… Maybe it's because I kind of relate to Braxton.

For as long as I could remember, I haven't really been what you'd consider as "normal" for a woman in today's society. The standard mold for a typical Italian daughter is what my folks expected for me. Ma and Pa wished desperately that I would have found some Catholic man to marry, preferably not Irish, and start popping children before I even hit twenty. Enrolling in nursing school was definitely not in their equation… Yet, here I am, twenty-four, very single, and in the flipping Army!

"Who knows…?" Mabel replies as she picks underneath her finger nails with her thumbnail, "I should be mad at you too! You're the reason I was in supply in the first place!" She changes the subject with a slight glare in my direction.

I let out an amused laugh and continue filing down my nails. "Oh, so you're the one who got stuck with my duty!"

"Yes I am! What did the Witch of the West want with you anyways?"

I put down my nail file down onto my lap, and hold my hands up close to my face so I can examine the length of my nails, "Special duty."

"Huh?" Mabel's upper lip curls upward in confusion.

I put my hands down onto my lap, satisfied with my manicure, "Braxton wants me to assist Dr. Yates in training the medic's for the 506th."

Mabel bursts out laughing. After her fit of giggles subsides she exclaims, "Good luck with that one! I sure wouldn't want to be you. The doctor seems like a bit of a ninny if you ask me. Did she say why she chose you?"

"She said it was because of the history I had working trauma back in civilian life." I tell her truthfully.

"That makes sense. You never did work in any other department than emergency, huh?" Mabel asks.

I shake my head.

"I think regular duty from Braxton would be all I could handle. You are lucky though, you get to interact with some of the men!" Mabel replies as she gets up off her bunk and walks over to the mirror beside her bed. She straightens out her white service dress, and then contorts her body so she can see her backside. I see her grey eyes narrow with scrutiny. "I really don't have an ass do I?"

"We are not having this conversation again, Mabel!" Before I can continue on about how I don't want to spend the next few hours of my life listening to Mabel babble on about how she has always been slim as a twig, a knock comes from the door.

"Enter." Mabel hollers out, her tone conveying how irritated she is by the interruption.

A familiar voice on the other side of the door announces. "Hope you're decent in there ladies."

Instantly knowing who it is, and I get up off of my bunk to stand with my arms crossed. "Get your ass in here already, Bill."

The door opens, and my baby brother steps into mine and Mabel's domain. He is wearing his PT gear and drenched in sweat. The stench of his body odor rapidly overtakes the tent, causing my eyes water.

"Christ, Bill, you look like a drowned rat, and smell even worse than you look." I greet Bill in our custom derisive fashion.

"Well, that tends to happen when you run up and down a mountain in ninety degree weather." Bill grins despite his apparent exhaustion, "Em' bags under your eyes don't make you look like Rita Hayworth either."

I roll my eyes and let out an unamused huff. Before I explain that I only got two hours of sleep, Mabel very blatantly clears her throat. I take it as my cue to introduce the two, "Mabel, this smelly ignoramus is my brother, Bill. Bill, this is Mabel."

"Nice to meet you, Mabel," Bill acknowledges Mabel, then turns his attentions towards me, "I ain't coming here to chew the fat with you ladies. I just wanted to let you know that my CO revoked my company's weekend passes, so, we will have to postpone going out for drinks Vi."

"Alright, we'll try for next weekend then." I reply, trying to act surprised. I am genuinely discouraged though, I was looking forward to being able to catch up with Bill.

Bill hears the disappointment in my voice and starts to walk towards me, his arms outstretched and ready for a hug. I take a large step backwards, and hold a fist in the air. "Don't you dare, William Guarnere! I showered a few hours ago, and I will not walk around the rest of the day smelling like hog!"

Bill slowly lowers his arms as that jackal grin of his forms on his lips. "Okay, but just this once! Next time I'll get cha' Vi. Now if you excuse me ladies, I better go shower before it's time for chow."

As he turns to leave, I suddenly remember I didn't tell him where my quarters are. "Hey, wait a second, how did you know this was my tent?"

"Asked some orderly in the hospital," Bill shrugs.

"Make sure my CO doesn't see you when you leave." I reply sternly.

"Yeah, she may have us tarred and feathered." Mabel interjects, still clearly fuming about the extra duty Braxton dumped on her.

Bill lets out an amused laugh and opens the door to leave. As Bill is exiting our tent I call out, "_Goodbye_."

Bill waves a hand behind him and mutters jokingly, "Yeah, yeah."

"Well he seems charming." Mabel says after a few moments.

I can't tell if she is being serious or not, so I look her square in the eye and say dryly, "Bill has as much charm as the Tasmanian Devil."

"Are you two always like that?"

"Like what?"

"Do you two always converse so crudely?" Mabel asks. The childlike look of inquiry on Mabel's face is so amusing I can't help but to bust out laughing.

"What is so funny? It was an honest question Viola!" Her mouth is gaping open in outrage.

"Mabel, you come from a small, upper class, family from Boston. Am I right?" I figure I might as well expand her knowledge further on the Guarnere family dynamic.

"Yes." Mabel replies raising her eyebrows, unsure as to where I am heading with this.

"I am sure you were raised to address your family cordially, in a docile traditional fashion." Mabel's signals for me to continue on with a slow nod, "Well, you see, I come from an average, large, Italian family from South Philly. The way my family communicates ninety percent of the time is through raised voices, flailing hands and arms, and very expressive word choices. Take mealtimes for instance, there were so many of us at the table chattering away in a mixture of Italian and English, you had to yell at the person across from you three times just to get them pass the butter."

"At my house we signaled for a servant to bring butter to us..." Mabel states matter of fact, and widens her eyes.

"You see, being overly obnoxious and crude is just how Bill and I communicate. When we are truly upset with one another you will know."

"Like yesterday when arrived on base?"

"Exactly," I nod.

Mabel's eyes soften with satisfaction; much in the way a toddler's would when they receive an answer to a question. She then returns to her old position in front of the mirror. Instead of scrutinizing her backside, she is redoing her mid-length hair back into a regulation bun.

Sometimes I wonder how we even ended up friends. It was a year ago already since Mabel walked into that barrack at Fort Dix with one of the most petrified looks I have ever seen on her face. She was probably wondering what the hell she had signed herself up for. I was kind of thinking that myself, to be honest. Mabel appeared as lost as a Texan rancher wondering the streets of Philly, so I motioned for her to come over and claim the bunk above mine. We exchanged formalities, talked about how we were both new to the Nursing Corps and were looking for a new start. Later that day, when we were off duty, we went out for drinks together, which sealed the deal.

After that, the rest is history. We have been as close as friends can be ever since.

I don't know what made me approach her that day. I am definitely not the type of person to initiate conversation with strangers. If I had to guess though, it would be the sense of adventure that emanates from Mabel**, **as though her whole being is ready to run at a moment's notice.

"What time is it?" Mabel asks while placing a final bobby pin into her hair.

I look at the clock on our small dresser, "16:26 hours."

"Of course it is." Mabel mutters to herself. Satisfied with her hair, she turns to face me. "I have to go on duty again at 17:30. Dumb Braxton and her double duty."

"I am assuming you want to go for an early supper then?" I ask, probably reading Mabel's mind.

"Bingo."

"Well, I am sure by the time we make trek across field to the Mess hall; they will be ready to serve."

"What are we waiting for then?!" Mabel motions eagerly to the door with her hand.

* * *

"This twelve mile march better not become a habit of Sobel's." Frank Perconte said to no one in particular. He was pissed that he was stuck marching in the dark with a full pack on Friday night.

Smokey slapped at a mosquito on his neck as he turned to Perconte on his left. "This wouldn't be so bad if we would be able to go out tomorrow night, but no. You had to go rip off Liebgott's head for using up the last of your toothpaste."

"Hey, my Ma' taught me that dental hygiene is very important." Perconte justified himself, "Besides, no good looking broad fancies a man with browned, tobacco ridden teeth." He jabbed at Smokey's obsessive habit of chewing tobacco.

"Whatever." Smokey was too irritated by the mosquitos attacking his flesh to continue arguing. He didn't feel so rotten, however, when he noticed that Eugene Roe was just as miserable beside him.

"Damn it." Eugene muttered as he slapped his cheek. He looked at his hand to find a rather hefty mosquito plastered to his palm. Disgusted, he wiped his hand on his pant leg. Eugene really wouldn't have minded the march if it wasn't for the relentless mosquitos. Walking was far more pleasant than charging up a mountain in the heat. As Eugene walked on, he listened to his comrades' gripe about the insects and Sobel, and he felt a heavy weight accumulate in his chest - he would be responsible for saving these men's lives one day.

Why him… Why the hell did the brass pick him to carry such a big responsibility?

As Eugene pondered the question, the sound of the other men's voices seemed to fade into a dull hum. He didn't even notice when a mosquito landed on his neck by the base of his skull. It was only when somebody slapped his neck from behind so hard that he jolted forward, almost collided with Muck, which made Eugene snap back to reality.

Highly irritated by the invasion of his personal space, Eugene craned his neck to see that it was George Luz who was behind him. Luz was holding his hand out with a boyish look of amusement spread across his face.

"Look at that big son of a bitch Eugene. I couldn't just let him suck out all your blood! We need to keep you around now that you are going be a medic."

"Thanks…" Eugene muttered as he turned back around. He was becoming increasingly agitated that since the afternoon, all anybody spoke to him about was that he is to be a medic.

"Eh' Eugene, what were you and that nurse talking about before Currahee this afternoon?" Luz asked in a jovial tone.

At the mention of Viola, Eugene felt his cheeks heat up. If worries about his new position weren't plaguing his mind, he was thinking about how much of a dumbass he must have looked like to Viola.

Mowing somebody down like a Sherman tank is embarrassing enough, but to mow down a woman, and a good looking one too, is a whole other level of embarrassment. During the lecture he felt like a schoolboy because he couldn't stop staring at her. Then, when he saw her approaching him after the lecture, Eugene froze like an ancient Greek statue. He thought for sure that Viola was coming over to yell at him that he broke her toe or something. He was astounded when she asked him for a lite instead. Then he had the bright idea of asking for her name. She probably didn't tell him because she didn't want him to know!

It excited Eugene that through his training he may be able to get to know this nurse better, but who was he kidding? He was almost certain that Viola thought he was just some bumbling idiot, so why bother?

"Nothing, just asked me for a lite." Eugene answered Luz without turning to face him.

"Just a lite huh?" Luz sounded like he did not believe Eugene's answer.

"Just a lite," Eugene repeated himself as he killed another mosquito on his cheek.

"Well, if I were you, I'd stay away from that one." Luz said.

Those words made Eugene crane his neck once more to shoot a glare at Luz. It was absolutely none of George Luz's business about who Eugene talked to during a day.

After Eugene faced forward Luz said, "We'll just have a little chat with Malarky once we are back in the barracks and you'll see what I am talking about."

* * *

When the men from Easy Company filed into the barrack they looked far from presentable. Every man sported at least ten swollen mosquito bites on their face or neck. Sweat stained their uniforms basically from top to bottom, and a few men were limping from blisters or strained ankles.

Eugene was never happier to see his rigid, highly un-comfy, Army issue cot in his life. His neck itched immensely from all the bug bites, and his feet were so sore he just about lost feeling in them. When he sat down on his bunk he felt as if he were melting. Sadly, the blissful moment was cut short by the sound of Luz's voice from three bunks to the left.

"Hey Malarky, tell Eugene here why he shouldn't fraternize with Guarnere's sister."

Eugene's head shot up like a gopher. He thought he must have cotton in his ears. Luz could not have possibly saidthat Viola was _Guarnere's_ sister.

"Oh Jesus Eugene, you really don't want to go that road." Malarky said as he sat down on his bunk across the aisle from Eugene's. "I made a comment about her when she first arrived, and then ole' Gonorrhea went ahead and just about wrung my neck!"

"Yes you better stay clear of that one, Eugene." Muck put in his two cents.

"Guarnere announced that he would snap any man who tried for his sister in half like a twig." Malarky stated with a nod.

"Jesus, Gonorrhea has a sister here?" Perconte interjected as he walked through the conversation.

"Sure does." Muck answered as he lit himself a smoke.

"Now do you understand, Eugene, that unless you wish to end up in a full body cast, you should stay away from that nurse?" Luz said as he caught a pack of smokes that came flying from across the aisle.

"Hey, I have an idea. How about we all just shut up and go to bed." Johnny Martin yelled out loud enough for the entire barrack to stop talking for a moment. But then the men continued on with their conversations as if nothing happened.

After Eugene shed his dirty uniform and was in his undershirt and shorts, he crawled under the covers. He was very irritated and slightly embarrassed by the men's harassment. Maybe the men were lying and just rousing him for the hell of it. But if they were, why would they say that Viola is the sister to one of the toughest, loud mouthed men in the company?

Eugene couldn't recall if Dr. Yates introduced Viola or not to the class... After a few moments exhaustion settled in, and the only coherent thought he had was the fuzzy warm feeling he felt in his chest when his and Viola's eyes locked.

* * *

Johnny Martin was very on edge as he stood in line for his Saturday morning breakfast. He wished that he was back home in Philly where his wife at that moment, would be serving him toast, ham, and a two poached eggs in bed while she wore that white lace nightdress that drove him so crazy. But no, he was dead dog tired, stuck in a slow moving line of loud mouthed, smelly soldiers, waiting for slop. When he finally was served, he grabbed a cup of coffee, spotted where Bill Guarnere was sitting, and headed towards him.

"Seriously, what the hell is this shit?" Martin demanded as he sat down across from Guarnere at a table.

Guarnere stirred his ripe smelling porridge with his spoon, "Looks like something I threw up once after a night drinking."

Bill's all to correct analogy turned Martin's appetite off completely. He grabbed a piece of toast and his cup of coffee off his tray, and then pushed it to the side. He stared longingly at his coffee as if it would magically somehow give him the hours of sleep he was lacking.

"Why so tired Johnny?" Bill asked, noticing the zombie like stature of the man across from him.

"People wouldn't shut their fucking yaps last night after Luz announced that you have a sister on base. Each man had to ask the guy beside him, did he say Guarnere's sister?! It was like fucking girls at a sleepover."

The harsh clanging of Bill dropping his spoon onto the metal tray caused Martin look up from his coffee. He was surprised to see Bill's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed in thought. He could tell that Bill was getting all wound up, the way he does.

"What brought up the subject?" Bill asked, trying to remain calm.

"I don't know. It was something about that how somebody from Easy should stay away from her. I didn't catch the name. How long she been here Bill?"

"A few days…" Bill muttered. He felt himself being overtaken by the need to protect Viola from the stupid shmucks in the company. Apparently, threating a few men and hoping the word would spread didn't work. He would have to make a bigger, bolder statement about the topic to show that he was serious. He felt like hopping up onto the table right then and there, but as Guarnere scanned the crowded Mess hall, he decided that the time wasn't right; there were too many officer's present.

* * *

Author's Note: Hello there. Sorry this took so long to get out! Thank you for the follows on my story! Please review! I really enjoy feedback good or bad.

I know it seems like it is going kind of slowly, but all my stories start off kind of slow so please bear with me!

A huge thanks to orchids117 for smoothing out the chapter! :)


	5. The Woes of Family and Toes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Band of Brothers. I wish no offense to the real mean of Easy Company, this story is only for entrainment purposes.**

**(See end of chapter for Authors note.)**

* * *

"Mail call!"

At the sound of Vest's announcement, Bill Guarnere, along with the rest of the men in his barrack sprung to their feet and crowded around the clerk. Receiving news from home was exactly what the men needed to perk them up—especially after their excruciatingly boring day of classroom instruction. Their moods were a cloudy as the sky after listening to Sobel for hours on end.

As Vest yelled out name after name, Guarnere became very impatient. He hoped that the letter he had been waiting for from home had finally arrived. When Guarnere's name was finally called, he viciously the snatched two letters from Vest's hand.

"Finally! A guy has to grow grey hair before he can get his mail around here." Guarnere exclaimed as he walked back over to his bunk and sat down.

The letter on top was from his brother, Henry. He set it aside and read the address on the second envelope. It was the letter he had been waiting for; his parent's reply to the letter he had written them about Viola. He quickly tore it open and read the contents. After he finished it, he set the letter down and massaged his forehead with his thumb and index finger.

"Aye Vi… of course." Bill mumbled to himself, flustered.

"Everything okay?" Joe Toye's voice made Bill look up to him.

"Yeah…" Bill muttered as he grabbed his jacket hanging from the nail on the shelf above his bunk, "I gotta go find my sister."

"Hey wait up, I'll go with you. I could use a walk." Toye said, getting up from his own bunk.

Bill nodded, thankful for the company. If it was any other man in Easy, he would have told them to stay away, but he trusted Toye. He knew Joe would respect his wishes and not do anything stupid around his sister.

Once they were out of the barrack, both men instinctively looked up to the sky to see if the clouds had dispersed.

"Looks like we'll be back to running our asses off tomorrow." Bill said as he looked at the clearing sky.

"Ah well." Toye replied calmly. He found the physical training challenging, but it didn't grate at him like it did for some of the other men. When he dropped out of school, he went to work in the coal mines around his native Pennsylvania home. Joe was simply immune to intensive labor.

"You think Sobel will yank away our passes again this weekend?" Bill asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I don't think he will. He has only taken away two guy's passes this week, and it's already Thursday! If all we are doing is more classroom instruction—and a few goes at the obstacle course—then I don't think he'll find an excuse to pull our passes."

"Hopefully," Bill replied as they rounded the corner of the hospital and headed towards the back of the building, "I would like to have the chance to sit down with my sister and catch up. It's been way too long."

"You two are pretty close?" Toye asked casually.

"We looked out for each other. Ma' was so worn out from her other children that by the time me and Henry came around she didn't have any energy left. Ma' could deal with Henry, he was born with a halo over his head. Viola ended up having to practically raise me though. Ma' just couldn't deal with my rambunctious behavior. I was a bit of a problem child." Bill's tone was serious, but peppered with hint of sarcasm.

Toye snorted, "You, a bad child. Never would have guessed."

"Ah shut up ya' Mick." Bill shot back.

"I had no idea there was so many building and tents back here." Toye exclaimed as he scanned the array of tents and supply buildings.

"I didn't either till last week." Bill replied. He pointed to the tent that belonged to Viola, "That one is hers."

When the men reached the door of her tent, Toye halted. "Do you want me to wait for you outside, or should I just start heading back?"

Bill was grateful for Toye's courtesy; it wasn't something he had encountered often among the men. "Ah what the hell, you might as well meet her."

Joe nodded. He understood how large of a compliment it was that he had just received from Bill. After listening to Bill go on all week, about how he hopes that nobody from Easy Company even so much as breaths in Viola's direction, he found it very clear as to how protective Bill was over his sister.

Bill knocked the wooden door, "You in there, Vi?"

The men heard a cot squeak, and footsteps approach the door. Before the door swung open, however, there was a sound of an object crashing to the ground—followed by string of curses. When Viola opened the door she was holding her leg right behind her like a flamingo, "This better be good, Bill! I just had a fucking tea kettle obliterate my toe!"

Bill chuckled, "Graceful as always I see."

"Oh shut it." Viola retorted.

"Can we come in? I got a letter from Pa for you." Bill asked as he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb to Joe.

Viola's eyes widened, she hadn't even noticed the man standing behind Bill. "Uh yes, of course." She let the men enter, and then hopped on one foot back to her cot and sat down.

Bill went and sat down beside Viola. Toye lingered by the door however, and stood with his arms crossed.

"That's Joe Toye. He's alright once you get past the ugliness of his mug." Bill introduced the two in an attempt to break the ice. He knew how shy Viola could be.

"Nice to meet you Joe, I'm Viola."

Toye dipped his head cordially. "It's a pleasure, Miss."

"Anyways, now that's out of the way, here's Pa's reply to the letter I wrote him and Ma' about you." Bill retrieved the letter from his breast pocket and handed it to a hesitant Viola, "They address you directly. I don't know why they sent it to me."

"Thanks." Viola said as she took the letter from his hand.

The anxious tone in Viola's voice made Bill's heart ache. He hated how hard his folks had beenon Viola ever since she decided to go to nursing school. Bill would have to sit there and listen to his parents complain about her focus on academics. The worst was when Ma would lecture him on how he should persuade her to stop studying for one night and go socialize. Bill would try to explain that Viola is happier focusing on her studies, but it always fell upon deaf ears.

"Hey," Bill put a hand on her shoulder for reassurance, "We'll get out of here so you can read that. Remember Vi, it doesn't matter what they say in there. You've done good for yourself. I'm proud of you."

Viola mustered a small smile.

"I'll come and find you on Saturday to let you know if I got a pass this weekend or not." Bill patted her on the shoulder and gave her a wink.

"Sounds good." Viola said absently, rubbing her sore toe.

Bill got up off of the cot and started to head toward the door. Then he stopped and turned around, "That gonna be okay?" He asked as he pointed to her red and swollen toe.

"I'll be fine. I'm a big girl." Viola mocked.

"Uh huh." Bill got her sarcasm, and waved her away as he and Joe exited the tent.

Once Bill and Joe were several paces away from Viola's tent, Bill spoke up, "I hope I didn't do a bad thing by giving her that letter."

"Things ain't good with the folks?" Toye inquired. He'd picked up on the hints during Bill and Viola's conversation.

"Haven't been with her for a long, long time." Bill sighed, "I had to give her that letter, though. I hate being the go between."

Toye nodded. He noticed how Viola's shoulders automatically tensed, and how her face fell when Bill brought out the letter. Toye also observed the way that Bill grimaced as he watched Viola take the letter. Bill was a strong man, and for him to display his emotions so blatantly, it was obvious that there was a rift in their family."She's a nice girl, Bill. Definitely doesn't come off a flimsy broad."

"Damn right she ain't." Joe's comment made Bill feel a bit more at ease, "Viola is the smartest fucking person I know."

Joe clapped Bill on the shoulder, "We better get back to barracks and get some sleep. I'm sure Sobel has another fucking nighttime march up his sleeve."

* * *

I find myself holding my breath after Bill and what's his face left. After a few long moments I exhale and bite the bullet. I feel as if my may throw up from anticipation as I unfold the letter. I notice right away that its Pa's writing; this isn't a good sign.

_"Dear Viola,_

_I am sure you can imagine how surprised your Mother and I were when we received the news from William that you two are at the same military base. It was a comfort to find out exactly where you are, and that you are safe—seeing as that you haven't written us in over eight months. We were beginning to think that they had shipped you overseas to someplace in the Pacific or Africa._

_That being said, it's a grave disappointment to your Mother and I, that you still feel you need to have a career. At your age, your sister's were married, and had been blessed with at least one child. But you have yet to fulfill our wishes and give us a grandchild. We still do not understand why the situation in Chicago deteriorated the way it did."_

I feel as if somebody has just sucker punched me I in the gut at the mention of Chicago. Tears are burning in my eyes, but I continue reading on,

_"While your profession is a womanly one; your Mother and I must express our feelings of outrage at your continuing escapade in the military. War is a man's domain. The types of women that get involved in the Nursing Corps are far too unconventional. You must think about what decent man would want you as his wife when he learns you would rather spend your time meddling with the Army instead of striving to create a home and family. You are only getting older, Viola, you must consider such things._

_Everything at home is fine. Whenever you decide to come to you senses and return home, your room and possessions are waiting for you as you left them so hastily._

_Regards,_

_Mother and Father."_

Feelings of anger, remorse, and disappointment are surging through my body with such vigor that I spring to my feet, crumple up the letter, and chuck it across the room. A frustrated scream escapes my throat. After a moment I realize that my cheeks are wet from tears. My legs suddenly loose their strength, and I collapse onto my cot.

I don't understand why I care so much what they think. I am happy with my choices, but why can't they be too? I mean, Ma always wanted her children to have an education. But because I choose to work, I am somehow a lesser daughter than my sisters.

Not knowing what else to do, I crawl under my covers, not caring about the fact that I am still in my uniform, and cry myself to sleep.

* * *

Mabel is yammering on as we walk to the Mess Hall for some breakfast. "Thank God it's the end of the week. I feel like I haven't slept in months."

"Only one more week of double shifts, and then you're home-free. You learned your lesson?" I tease her.

She lets out a sharp whist of air, "Oh yes."

"Ugh, I don't want to go listen to Doctor numb-nuts today. I seriously haven't done anything in that class except sit in that uncomfortable chair and listen him blab on and on." I gripe as we enter the Mess Hall. We join the end of the long line, and grab ourselves each a tray and set of utensils.

"I'd trade you my endless supply duty any day for the chance just so sit around and do nothing. I swear, Braxton must think I'm a supply officer in drag." Mabel says dryly.

I laugh, "At least you get to do something! Dr. Yates hasn't even introduced me yet! I'm just some random nurse who sits in a chair."

"All I want to do right now is sleep." Mabel groans.

After a few minutes we get our food—if that's what you call it, and head over to our usual table in the far left hand corner. Right before we reach our table; one of the other nurses, Lieutenant Douglas, gets up from her table and smacks into Mabel. Mabel sways to her right and ends up knocking me over in the process.

For a humiliating moment, all action in the Mess Hall seems to cease. Everybody stares at us three nurses sprawled out on the floor, which must be quite a site because we are now wearing our breakfasts instead of holding them.

As quickly as it stopped; the action in room picked up again.

"Oh my gosh are you girls alright?" Lieutenant Douglas is reeling as we get up off the floor.

I am about to answer yes when sharp pain shoots out from my big toe upwards. It's the same damn toe I crushed last night. "Holy Mother of Mary!" I shout loud enough for some people to look up from their breakfasts.

"What is it?" Mabel blurts outs concerned.

"My fucking toe!" My Philly accent makes me sound more pissed off than I actually am. None the less, Lieutenant Douglas looks at me wide eyed, squeaks about how sorry she is, and dashes out of the Mess Hall.

"Is it broken?" Mabel inquires.

"I don't know. Let's just get the hell out of here." I grumble as I begin to limp towards the door. Once outside, I go and sit down on a bench by the wall of the Mess Hall. I take off my shoe, and can see through my nylons that my toe is red and swollen like a big pimple, "Son of a bitch."

Mabel kneels down and gently presses down on my toe, causing me flinch. "Can you wiggle it?" She asks.

I take a deep breath in and manage to move it a little bit, but not without pain.

"Looks like you sprained it." Mabel states as she stands up.

I stare at her for a moment, "How that fuck does somebody sprain a toe…?"

"Don't know, but apparently you did, so it's possible." She replies dryly.

I let out sigh of deep irritation, "What a day this will be." Just then a scary fact suddenly pops into my mind, "Uh, Mabel?"

Her eyes widen, "Yes…?"

"These are our last clean uniforms… everything else is at the laundry."

Mabel's jaw opens, "Oh shit."

"Yeah." I raise my eyebrows.

All of a sudden her hands fly up into the air like she has an idea, "Wait a second, I'll just go over to supply and get us two new uniforms out of the new shipment! I know where they are stashed." She smiles and says to herself, "Wow maybe there are perks of being the supply Baroness."

"You go get us new dresses, and I'll limp my way back to our tent to try and get these chunks of porridge out of my hair." I say as I stand up.

* * *

As I limp through the hospital ward I curse my toe under my breath. It took me half a century to get from my tent to the hospital. I had no idea that a single toe could cause a person so much grief.

When I get down the hallway I can hear that Dr. Yates has already started yakking. When I the open the door to the classroom the men, including Dr. Yates, snap their heads in my direction, causing me to blush. I never understood why people do that when somebody walks in late. It's like people figure you're late because you just came from a murder or something.

As I limp my way across the front of the classroom to my usual perch, I look at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with the men. Once I sit down I look out to the men. Almost all of them have returned their attention to Dr. Yates, but I can still feel one pair of eyes on me; Eugene. I must have really made a huge fool of myself last week, because Eugene hasn't approached me once since last Friday. But the funny thing is that during class, our eyes somehow always meet.

After hours of enduring Dr. Yates teach things I learned in the first year of nursing school, he finally wraps up. When he dismisses the class, the men commence their usual stampede for the door. Normally I am among them, but I stay seated for a moment so my toe doesn't get abused further. After the main cluster has dispersed, I get up and start limping toward the door.

"Lieutenant Guarnere." Dr. Yates' voice makes me halt.

"Yes sir?" I answer as I spin around to face his direction.

"Lieutenant, I will be on leave for the better part of next week. There's a seminar on the latest surgical techniques for bowel reconstruction that I am required to attend in Atlanta. I am charging you with the task of delivering next week's lectures. I wish to cover proper bandaging and splinting techniques. Next Friday, the men will have to practice what they learnt on each other outside in the field. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Yes sir." I reply assertively, trying to hide the fact that such a large task is daunting.

"Good." He walks towards me and shoves a hefty stack of papers into my hands. "Here's my usual outline for this lecture series. Feel free to make whatever changes you find suitable. I trust your judgement. Have a good weekend, Lieutenant." He says as he grabs the rest his papers off of the podium and leaves the room.

I shake my head; this day can't get any more random.

When I exit the classroom, I struggle to weave through the hallway full of lingering soldiers. Suddenly, some guy bursts out laughing and steps backwards, crashing into me in the process. I lose my balance and papers go flying.

Just before I hit the floor, I feel two strong arms wrap around my waist. My neck snaps upwards to see none other than Eugene Roe holding me. My cheeks immediately become hot. "Twice in one damn day," I mutter as he pulls me back up onto my feet.

Eugene's hands remain on my waist which sends an enticing warm tingle throughout my body. "Are you okay Lieutenant?" His dark eyes scan my face.

The intensity of the look on his face stuns me for a moment; it's fiercely handsome yet somehow adorable all at once. "I, uh – yes I am." I stutter, only making my cheeks heat up more.

He takes his hands off of my hips, "This is quickly becoming a habit of ours."

I chuckle, "For me especially." I glance down to the floor to see my papers are spread out in a semi-circle around me and Eugene "Shit." I bend down and start to gather up the papers.

"Here, let me help." Eugene says as he helps me pick up the rest of my papers, speeding up the process.

When I stand up, I wobble slightly on account of my throbbing toe. Eugene grabs my left shoulder to steady me. "Easy now."

"Thanks." I glance over my shoulder, "Well, I better get going." I say in attempt to escape and not make a further idiot of myself.

"Whoa, hold up." Eugene drawls as he grabs the stack of papers from my hands, "I'll walk you to wherever you need to go. I saw you limping into the classroom this morning."

My mouth opens slightly in shock, "Uh, yes, thank you." I manage to stammer out after an awkward pause.

I see his body posture relax slightly, "So where to?" He asks, giving me a sheepish smile.

"My tent."

We walk through the hospital ward and exit through the back doors in silence; both of us not knowing what to say. As we continue on towards my tent, Eugene keeps glancing at me like he wants to ask me a question.

"Do you want to ask me something…?" I ask warily, not knowing if it'll make this situation more awkward.

Eugene's cheeks turn red, "I, well, this is going to sounds really strange but what is your last name, Lieutenant?"

As we approach my tent I reply, "Guarnere."

We stop in front of my tent door, and Eugene stands still for a moment. He looks as if he is about to be run over by a truck. After a second he collects his composure, "Thank you."

"May I ask why you wanted to know?"

"Er, no reason in particular. I know your first name but not your last." Eugene seems to stumble over his own words.

I give him a smile, trying to make him feel a bit more at ease. "Well now you know, and please call me Viola or Vi. I hate being addressed as Lieutenant or Miss. It sounds so stuffy to me."

His eyebrows rise for a second, but then he cracks a smile, "No problem." He shuffles the papers so they are balancing on one arm, and opens the door for me.

I limp inside the doorway and hold out my arms. After Eugene plops the papers into my arms I thank him, "Thanks for the help. See you on Monday."

Eugene nods and smiles, then leaves. I stand by the door for a second and grin to myself. That whole experience was humiliating and flattering all at once. It's lovely that Eugene decided to go out of his way for me. I just really wish that it didn't have to involve him rescuing me from my own clumsiness yet again.

"I-ca-rumba! Who was that?!" Mabel booms out, scaring the shit out of me.

I spin around, "What the hell are you doing here! Aren't you supposed to be in supply?"

"Yes, but Lieutenant Douglas felt so bad for this morning that she offered to take over for me." She puts her hands on her hips, "Now, who was _that_ well-built specimen?"

I hobble over to my cot, set down my papers, and sit down, "Eugene –" I catch myself, I sound a bit too smitten, "I mean Corporal Roe. He's a guy in the class..." I try to cover up my fluke, but according to Mabel's jackal grin I've failed.

"_Eugene,_ huh?" She teases me.

I throw my pillow at her, causing her to bust out giggling. "He's just an acquaintance!" I tell her truthfully.

Mabel throws the pillow back at me, "_Sure_ he is." She walks over to the dresser between our cots and opens up the top drawer, "I found this under my cot. I didn't read it." She says as she hands me a piece of paper.

Shit, it's Pa's letter. Not wanting to relive the anger and shame of having to read it again; I get up, walk over to our garbage can, tear the letter into shreds and throw it away.

After I woke up this morning with puffy eyes and sore sinuses; I felt like a fool for letting my parents get to me like that. I am a grown woman. Their opinion doesn't rule my life. I'll just do what I've been doing for years now and ignore them.

* * *

As Eugene walked back to his barracks he felt like a rock was sinking in his stomach. After a whole week of being too shy to ask Viola, his suspicions were confirmed; she is actually Bill Guarnere's sister.

The logical thing to do would be to not give Viola another thought. It would just be asking for trouble. On the other hand, there was this little voice inside his head that told him to not care. Something told him that he shouldn't give up on pursuing Viola. All he has done is basically act like a bumbling idiot around her, and still Viola had been nothing but kind and friendly with him. Most women would have told him to buzz off by then.

There is also the fact that she always ended up blushing whenever they interacted. Eugene would definitely not call himself a ladies man, but he _did_ know that women don't blush unless they are feeling somewhat flattered.

So maybe there was hope for Eugene yet….

* * *

**A/N: Hello there! I am so sorry it took almost a month for me to get this up!  
**

**A huge thank you to TaliVarda100706 for your amazing review! I was worried that the pace I've planned for the story might be to slow, but your comments made me feel that it isn't so thanks. I'm delighted that you enjoy the concept for my story, and that you will continue to keep reading! :) **

**Thank you to the other people who have followed/favorited this story as well, glad to know people are interested! Also, thanks to Orchids117 for the beta. **

**Please read and review, I love getting feedback. Until next time (which will hopefully not be so long!) Cheers! :) **

**P.S. - On a random note I was scrolling through some other BoB stories and I noticed another story had the same cover image as I do. I had no idea that story even existed, and would like to state that I did not intend to copy that author! I really like my image so I am not going to change it. **


	6. The Line is Drawn

**Disclaimer: I wish no offense by this story to any of the real men of Easy Company. I do not own Band of Brothers.**

**(Author's note is at the end of the Chapter as usual.)**

* * *

"Well what do you think?" I turn around so I am facing Mabel instead of the mirror.

"Much better—that old dress uniform you had before was way too big. You look good with your hair curled. You should do it more often, Vi." Mabel is absolutely beaming. She takes great joy in turning me into her little cosmetic guinea pig whenever I decide to go out on the weekends, "although, you really should consider putting on more makeup than just lipstick."

Her badgering is grating on my nerves slightly. "Christ Mabel, I'm just going out with my brother. It's not like I am going out with Tyrone Power or John Wayne! I don't need to impress anybody."

"Ugh, you're hopeless sometimes!" Mabel's remarks as she open the tent door and shoos me out, "now go have some fun!"

"Bye!" I holler as the door slams shut behind me. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she is green with jealously that I get to go out while she is stuck on duty. If there is one thing Mabel loves, it is to have fun.

I shake my head and laugh, because I know next weekend whether I want to or not, I will have to go out with Mabel. She never lets me one up her for long.

Tonight is mine and Bill night though. When came and found me this morning, and told me he had a pass I was ecstatic. It has been at least a good year since Bill and I have been able to sit down and really have a decent conversation without the prying ears and eyes of our family.

* * *

After the short jeep ride into the town of Toccoa with two other nurses; I find myself waiting outside of the diner Bill told me to meet him at. Several soldiers file by on both sides of the street but none of them are Bill.

After twenty minutes of waiting I am really starting to get impatient.

I am fidgeting with the strap of my purse when two soldier's stop in front of me. The first one is rather tall with curly blonde hair. The second solider has brown hair and is shorter than the first. He also has what one might call a baby face, even though his animalistic expression, is far from innocent.

"Hey there Toots. You all alone?" The shorter man asks.

"No, I am waiting for somebody." I reply crassly. The last thing I want right now is to be propositioned on the street like some hussy. Where the hell is Bill? My right heel starts to uncontrollably bounce up and down; he really picked a bad time to be tardy.

The taller man puts on all his charm with a sly smile. "Well it sounds like your alone then. Why don't you come join us for some drinks so we can get to know each other?"

"Yeah Toots, come on!" The shorter man says as he grabs my forearm.

I instinctively raise my hand and slap him across the face so hard that the soundof my hand hitting his face makes soldiers from the other side of the street stop, and snap their heads our direction.

"Get your hands off of me!" I yell, infuriated by the invasion of my personal space.

"_Hey_!" A loud familiar voice shouts from down the sidewalk, startling both me and my harassers. Before I can even blink, Bill comes charging up to me and positions himself between me and the men.

"Are these stupid Mick's bothering-" Bill cuts himself off when he looks at the two men's faces, "Cobb you stupid son of a bitch!" Bill snarls in his menacing manner that he gets into when he is pissed off.

He clenches his right fist and raises his arm to swing at this Cobb guy.

"Bill, stop it!" I shout as I jump in front of him. There is a small group of people watching us. The last thing anybody needs is for a brawl to break out and the MP's throw the whole lot of us in the slammer.

"Let's get out of here." The taller man says as he grabs Cobb by the sleeve and they run down the sidewalk, clearly intimidated by my seething brother.

I look around to see that more soldiers have stopped to gawk at the spectacle. I shoot a few glares in various directions and the men disperse.

As I straighten out the sleeve of my jacket I rip into Bill, "Are you an idiot Bill? Do you want to get reprimanded? Jesus Christ there so many MP's around here—you'd think there's a convention of them in town!"

"Vi, -" Bill tries to argue, but cut I him off before he can even get going.

"Leave it alone, Bill. They were just some dumb shmucks trying to get fresh with me." I assert my older sibling authority, and as per usual, Bill backs down.

Bill runs a hand through his short hair, "you alright Vi?"

"Yes I am." I assure him.

"If you say so," Bill sighs in defeat as he gives me a hug. After a moment he pulls away, and rests his hands on my shoulders, "get a load of you, all spiffed up! Yeesh, I can't even remember the last time I saw you with your hair curled."

I slap Bill on the chest and roll my eyes, "can we go inside and eat now? I'm starving. You only took ten years to get here."

"Sorry bout' that, the buses leaving for town were full so I had to walk." Bill says as he goes and opens the door for me, "after you."

"My, my, aren't we genteel tonight." I tease him as I walk by.

"Wha?" Bill asks much to my amusement. I knew he wouldn't know what genteel means.

"Ugh never mind." I reply – knowing that deliberately not explaining myself will just bug him more.

We stand by the door for a second and scan the crowded diner, trying to spot a free table. Almost all the booths are filled with a mixture of civilians and soldiers. Even the barstool seating is all filled up.

"Over there." Bill points to an empty, semicircular shaped booth in the far left hand corner. As we make our way over to the booth, Bill notices that I have a bit of a limp, "what's up with that?" He asks as he points at my foot.

"Ugh," I groan, irritated. "Well, remember how I dropped that tea kettle on it?" Bill nods, "The next day it got stomped on by two morons and I sprained it."

Bill lets out an amused chortle, "that's some shitty luck."

"No shit."

Once we are seated, we discover that our booth is nicely secluded from the loud conversation coming from other tables. A waitress promptly arrives with menus and a steaming hot pot of coffee. As she sets the menus down in front of us she asks, "What would you like to drink? Coffee?"

"I'll have sweet tea please." Bill answers.

"Same here," I reply.

The waitress nods and then scuttles away. When I open my menu I feel overwhelmed by the huge array of choices, "you know what's good here, Bill?"

"I was only here once and had the fried chicken. It was pretty good; I think I'll get that again." Bill replies, closing his menu.

I guess I'll have the chicken too; Bill is usually right when he says a dish is good.

The waitress returns with our drinks, and takes our orders. After she leaves, Bill folds his hands and rests them on the table. I know by the way he is clenching his bottom jaw that he has something to say.

"Spit it out." I demand.

"Spit what out?" Bill says as he leans back and raises his eyebrows.

"What do you want to say? You're doing that thing you always do with your jaw when you want to say something but you don't know if it'll piss me off or not."

"What thing?" Bill retorts as he goes back to his previous posture.

"That." I gesture to him with my hand.

He lets out a long sigh, "Look, I don't want to ruin the night, but it has been grating at me. You're not letting that letter from the folks get at cha', are you?"

I shake my head, feeling my body tense up at the thought of the letter. "No. It's awful to say, but since I've joined up, I've cared a lot less about what they think. I mean after Chicago –"

"Shh." Bill cuts me off as he grabs my one hand that's on the table, and gives it a squeeze, "we ain't talking about that tonight. It's in the past and it's over."

I give Bill a weak smile, "you're right." I decide to change the topic away from our headache provoking parents, "so, what's it like being paratrooper?"

Bill leans back slightly, as his stature puffs with pride, "I ain't no paratrooper yet, but I will be. The training is tough, and our C.O. Sobel is a bastard, but if surviving that man's hell is what it takes to be the best, I'll endure it."

How proudly Bill speaks about his training makes my heart warm with happiness. He was definitely never the brightest the kid on the block, and is not one for book learning. But ever since he could speak, if he was involved in an activity that really mattered to him, he made damn sure that he would strive to be the best there was in it - the glimmer in his eyes tells me becoming a paratrooper is one of those instances.

"You'll survive; your skin is as thick as dragon scale. Come to think of it, so is your head!"

"Bah," Bill kicks me under the table, "we all can't be brainiacs like you!"

I giggle, "Touchy, touchy."

"So explain to me, Vi, how the hell did you decide to become an Army nurse? The last I knew you were working Philly."

I let out a sigh, and begin to tell my spiel,"Three months after Chicago, I couldn't take the non-stop badgering from Ma about how much of a failure as a daughter I was, so, I applied for a job at Allegheny General in Pittsburgh. I think it was a few weeks after you moved out of the house. Anyways, I got the job, but it was only a temporary position. Two months later, I found myself unemployed and back in Philly."

"I'm sure Ma and Pa were thrilled about that." Bill interjects sarcastically.

I nod, "No shit." and continue on, "It was the fourth day I was home when I went to go pick up some eggs from the corner store. The lady in front of me was a nickel short for whatever she was buying, so I helped her out. I noticed she was wearing a uniform and asked her about the Nursing Corps. She praised the service up and down, and the very next day I took a cab downtown, and signed up. Now here I am."

Bill is grinning ear to ear, "Well I, for one, am glad you did. It was a smart move. I haven't seen you so vibrant in years, Viola." He picks up his glass for a toast, "to us, and life in the service."

I pick up my glass, "to us." We clink our glasses together, but before I take a sip I burst out laughing. Bill missed his mouth, causing his glass slip out of his hand and fall onto his lap.

As the contents pour out all over his shirt and half the table; the expression of utter disbelief on his face makes me laugh even harder. After a moment, Bill starts laughing at his misfortune also.

Tears are running down my cheeks when the waitress returns with our food. I'm sure she thinks that we are both crazy, but I really don't care.

After our laughter dies down and Bill cleans up his mess, we chow down on our food. He was right, this is really good chicken. The flavouring is superb, and it's not too greasy for being fried chicken. The accompanying coleslaw is really tasty; it's a good change from bland, inedible Army food.

Bill's face lights up like he has suddenly remembered something, and says with a mouthful, "oh yeah, in the last letter I sent Henry, I wrote him about you being at Toccoa with me."

"And?" I ask, intrigued.

Henry and I were very close when we were younger, but we drifted apart as we grew up. The more I fought with Ma and Pa, the farther apart we became. He didn't want to displease Ma by possibly being seen as siding with me, the black sheep.

"He hopes that we don't end up burning down the camp." Bill states in an amused tone.

I snicker, "sounds like him."

"So," Bill pauses to take a bite, "what do you nurses do all day? It's not like there's wounded or anything."

I snort, "Ha, what do we do! Little do you paratroopers know, we nurses are kept on our toes from revelry 'til after sundown."

"Doing what? Rolling bandages and fluffing your hair?" Bill replies, amused by his own witticism.

I roll my eyes, "my C.O., Braxton, is an old war horse. She runs a tight shift, and makes sure our performance is impeccable whether it is cataloging medical supplies, bandaging up a rolled ankle, or scrubbing the operating room floor."

Bill scrunches his eyebrows together, "there's an operating room? The hell do we need one of those for at Toccoa?"

"If some guy has a hot appendix that's ready to blow, it's really inconvenient for the patient, and the doctor for that matter, to drive five miles into town for a simple appendectomy." I explain.

"Ah." Bill replies as he takes another bite of his food, "what do you usually do?"

"I'm usually the sucker stuck on ward duty, which means paper work and cleaning. There's the occasional patient that wanders in with a cut or a sprain, but that hasn't happened too often since I've arrived. Then three mornings a week I have my special duty."

"Special duty?" Bill asks with interest.

"Well, according to my C.O., I have the most experience in working with trauma, so I'm stuck assisting Dr. Yates in teaching the medics for the 506th."

The expression on Bill's face is contradictory. I can tell that he is proud of me, but is a bit peeved at the same time. "So you have to interact with the men then?"

"Well so far – ah," I pause to pick a chicken bone out of my teeth, "so far the only thing I have done in those classes is achieve a sore ass. But next week, Dr. Yates has to attend some seminar, so I have to teach the class."

Bill sits upwards stiffly, and postures himself much in the way a male lion would when threatened. "Anybody from Easy Company try to approach you?"

My head tilts back in annoyance, "God no. I've only spoken to one of the men, and I don't even know what Company he's in." I think of Eugene and feel butterflies form in my stomach.

Bill sets down his utensils and wrings his hand together, "if anybody—and I mean _anybody_ bothers you; come and tell me, and I'll flatten their ass."

I am touched by Bills protectiveness, yet annoyed at the same time, "yeesh, I'll be fine, Bill. I am more than capable of telling some asshole where to go if need be."

Bill nods hesitantly. I can tell that it's killing him to not say anything more on the subject, but he knows better than to argue with his older sister.

For the rest of the meal we chat about the people we serve with and how harsh both of our C.O.'s are. After we finish our desert, which happened to be a delectable slice of banana crème pie, neither of us want to leave. The diner has cleared out so it is basically empty—except for a civilian couple on the opposite end of the restaurant.

Instead of heading to a pub like we had planned, Bill and I order coffees, and continue to talk about everything and anything. Before we know it, the waitress is at the head of our table, asking us to pay our bill and leave so she can close up. The second after we leave the diner, the waitress locks the door behind us and turns off the lights.

"Wanna go to the pub now? It's not too late." Bill says as he looks at his wrist watch.

"Ugh, I'd really love to—I'm having such a good time. I need to get up early tomorrow though and finish my lectures for the medical classes. Should we make a date for next time you can get a weekend pass?"

"Okay." Bill replies, sounding a little disappointed, "next time we better go dancing though." He points his finger at me for emphasis.

His comment makes me smile ear to ear. After all these years he still wants to dance with his big sister. "It's a done deal!"

Bill winks and pulls me into a tight hug.

* * *

"Your home early," Mabel comments as I walk into our tent. She is sitting on her cot in her red satin bathrobe with her hair wrapped in a towel, and is painting her toe nails bright red.

"I know. I have to get up at 07:00 tomorrow and finish those lectures before I go on duty for the afternoon." I reply as I kick off my shoes and sit down on my cot.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You have a good time with your brother?"

"Yeah," I giggle think about how funny he looked with sweet tea spilt all over his uniform. "We had fun, but I think it bothers him that I have to train the medic's for the 506th."

"Why do you say that?" Mabel looks up from her toes, confused.

"He got all riled up, saying that if any of the men try to make a pass at me he'll squash them like an ant."

"By the sound of your tone, it doesn't seem like you're too thrilled by that." Mabel states, "I wish I could have a brother who would do things like that for me."

I sigh, "I know he mean's well, but still, my work isn't any of his business. I can handle it myself if some moron tries to get friendly with me."

Mabel laughs, "I've seen how you handle that. Remember that orderly at Fort Dix who tried to grab your ass? I've never seen a grown man get so frightened from simply being told off by a woman!"

I smile, remembering the horrified expression on his face, "he never even made eye contact with me again after that day."

"You are really terrifying when you yell, Viola." Mabel says as she gets up and puts her nail polish away, "I think it's that pugnacious sounding accent of yours."

"I've been told that before." I say dryly while rolling my eyes.

"Let's just hope Bill doesn't get wind of that Eugene who walked you home on Friday. I could tell he has a shine on for you." Mabel's voice sounds giddy. She gets such joy out of teasing me.

"He does not! I told you a hundred times, he is just an acquaintance whom I have run into a few times, literally." Despite the fact that I am telling the truth, I feel my cheeks grow hot.

"Uh-huh," Mabel says smugly as she dresses for bed, "Take my word for it Vi, that boy has a thing for you. And judging by the color of your cheeks, you have a thing for him, too. I don't blame you, that Eugene sure has one hell of a body."

My eyes widen from her statement. If there is one thing Mabel is superb at, it is reading men. If she suspects that Eugene is interested in me, then maybe there is a chance he actually is…

As I dress for bed and lay down to sleep, I fantasize about what it would be like to have my body caressed by Eugene's strong hands and kissed by his enticing lips.

After a few minutes, I come back to reality; there is no point in dreaming about such things. I can't imagine how much Braxton would flip her lid if she found out that one of her nurses was fraternizing with a solider. Can you say dishonorable discharge?

Even though I try to fight it, as I drift off to sleep, my mind wanders back to the delightful body of Eugene Roe.

* * *

When Bill Guarnere entered his barrack after walking Viola back to her tent, he found Luz, Malarky, Muck, Popeye, Toye, and Smokey sitting on a few cots in a circle, playing a game of poker.

"Hey look whose home early." George Luz announced as Bill walked in.

"Hiya, Bill." Malarky called out as he looked up from his cards.

"You have a good time with your sister, Bill?" Toye asked as he turned around to face Bill.

"Yeah, she has to get up early tomorrow though to do some work, so we came back to the base early." Bill replied as he walked up to the group, "you people without passes having fun being dull?"

"Come on, just because you have a pass this weekend, doesn't mean you need to rub it in!" Muck exclaimed as he laid down his cards, "I fold. These cards are shit, Malarky."

"Not my problem." Malarky defended himself, "I just deal them. I don't look at them."

"Eh, whatever," Bill waved Muck's comment off, not caring, "the hell all you guys doing in here, anyways?" Bill commented; pointing out the fact that Luz, Muck, and Malarky were not assigned to his barrack.

"We were gonna play in our barrack, but Perconte's damn snoring was unbearable." Luz answered with his tone full of distain.

"It's amazing how somebody that short could snore so loudly." Muck added.

"Wanna join in, Gonorrhea? The pot's up to sixty bucks." Malarky asked with friendly air in his voice.

"Nah," Bill's tone conveyed that he was distracted, "any of you guy's seen Cobb or Roe?"

"Cobb was bragging about trying to shack up with some broad this weekend, so I don't think he'll be back till tomorrow evening." Popeye stated matter of fact.

"Roe was sitting on his bunk going over a bunch of notes." Muck added, "I don't know how he could think over Perconte's noise."

"Thanks." Bill muttered as he spun around on his heels and headed towards the door.

"Hey, what happened to your clothes?" Luz asked loudly as Bill was leaving the barrack, referring to the sweet tea stains all over his uniform.

Bill, however, was on a mission to seek out Eugene, so Luz's comment didn't even register.

When Bill entered the other Easy Company barrack, it was empty except for Eugene and a very unconscious Perconte. Having now heard Perconte snore, Bill could understand why the men moved the game to the other barrack.

Eugene, on the other hand, didn't seem to be bothered by Perconte's snoring at all. He was so focused on reviewing his medical notes that he didn't see Bill walk in. It was only when Eugene sensed a presence in front of him that he looked up. His body jolted in shock when he saw that it was Guarnere who was standing before him. Eugene's immediate thought was that Viola said something to Bill about him, and now Bill was there chew him out.

Bill stood in front of Eugene with his arms crossed and a grimace on his face, "Me and you got to have a little chit chat." He said with a purposeful tone.

Judging by Guarnere's clenched jaw and blazing dark eyes, Eugene could tell that he meant business, "Alright."

Bill glanced over his shoulder to Perconte, who was visibly drooling onto his pillow. "We better take this outside; wouldn't want to wake sleeping beauty."

Eugene nodded slowly and organized his papers into a neat stack. He then got up, grabbed a pack of smokes and his lighter out of the pocket of his dress coat, and followed Bill out of the barrack. His heart was pounding wildly from anticipation. He was certain that his face was about to be pounded into mulch.

Once outside, Eugene fished out two cigarettes from the pack and offered one to Guarnere. Bill shook his head no, and stood with his arms crossed once again. With shaky hands, Eugene lit himself a cigarette and took a deep, long drag to calm his nerves.

"Now; it's all hunky dory that the brass decided to choose you to be a medic. However, I am sure you know that one of the nurses on base is my sister, seeing as that people can't seem to shut there fucking yaps about it." Bill shifted his feet and clenched his jaw in agitation.

"It just so happens that my sister is assigned to training you medics. "Bill holds up a finger in warning, "I am only going to say this once; I never, ever, want to hear from my sister that you tried something dumb with her, or that you made her feel uncomfortable in any way, shape, or form. In fact, I never want to hear about you from her ever! If I do, there will be some serious consequences for you." Bill held out his left hand, and punched his palm with his right fist to add emphasis, "Do we have an understanding, Roe?"

Eugene silently nodded. He was afraid that if he spoke his voice may do something embarrassing to give away his nervousness, like waver.

Bill noted Eugene's pale complexion, combined with the unsteadiness of his hand that held his smoke, and decided that he had gotten his message across loud and clear, "Right, you have a good night, Doc."

Bill then spun around and headed back to his barrack, "one down; one to go." He muttered to himself.

* * *

Roy Cobb had a smug, self-righteous grin plastered to his face when he returned to his barrack Sunday evening. He laughed to himself inside because he knew he had had the best weekend out of all his comrades – he spent almost the entire time in bed with one amazing red head.

"Jesus, get a load of Cobb!" Hoobler announced to no one in particular.

All of the men stopped what they were doing and looked at Cobb.

"You look like brand new man." Grant said as Cobb sat down on his bunk.

Guarnere felt his blood boil as he watched the Cobb parade into the barrack. It was about damn time Cobb returned; now it was time for him to pay for insulting Viola.

Bill scanned the room and noticed that this was the chance he had been waiting for to show the men that he wasn't joking around when said that nobody is allowed to mess with Viola.

The men continued to spout out envious comments about Cobb as he lay down on his cot, which only made him feel more like he was on top of the world. He didn't even notice when Guarnere got up from his cot and started charging towards him like an angry bull.

"Get up Cobb." Guarnere demanded.

The sudden boom of his Philly accent made the rest of the men in the barrack stop talking. They knew shit was about to go down by the way Guarnere's shoulders were tensed, and the wild fire present in his eyes.

Cobb only halfway sat up, "Why?" His tone was snide and masculine.

"I said get your ass up off of that bed." Bill growled as he stood in front of Cobb, his arms at his sides and his hands bunched up into fists.

Cobb gritted his teeth. He felt all the men's eyes on him and Guarnere. Not wanting to seem intimidated, Cobb slowly stood up to face Bill—consciously putting in the effort to make sure his composure appeared aggressive.

"What the fuck do you want Gonorrhea?"

"I don't think your Mother ever taught you any fucking manners, because you obviously don't know how to treat a dame with respect," Bill hissed. His face was so close to Cobb's that they were almost nose to nose. Bill aggressively shoved Cobb backwards so the pair was standing in the main aisle of the barrack.

"What the hell are you talking about, Bill?" Hoobler exclaimed, voicing what all the other men were thinking.

Without breaking his intense stare on Cobb, Bill replied with his lip curled upward in disgust, "this fucker didn't listen when my sister told him to go away, and then he tried to grab at her arm."

Mutters of "Holy shit," and, "oh fuck" were heard throughout the room.

"I didn't know that broad was your sister. There's no reason to get your panties in a twist about it." Cobb replied forcefully.

"Oh yeah?" Bill snarled just before he lunged at Cobb.

He grabbed Cobb's shirt collar with one hand, and with the other he punched him square in jaw. Cobb went reeling backwards for a second, his body stunned by the sudden blow. But as quickly as he lost his balance, he gained it back and then charged at Guarnere.

Before Cobb could ram into Guarnere, Bill stepped to the side just enough for Cobb to miss.

Cobb tripped and fell to the ground, but not before hitting his head on the corner of one of the cots, which cut his forehead open.

Bill then pulled Cobb up the shirt and was about to swing at him again, when two men grabbed Bill from behind and pulled him away before any more damage could be done.

"Break it up guys, here comes Winters!" Popeye yelled suddenly.

The men then scrambled back to their bunks, and tried to act like nothing had just happened.

Cobb, however, darted out of the barrack and headed in direction of the hospital at full tilt.

* * *

"Uh, Ma'am?" Cobb called out sheepishly as he stood awkwardly in the front doors of the hospital.

Mabel was up on a stool, rooting through some boxes on the high up shelves over the duty desk. When she looked over to the direction of the voice, she was shocked to see a solider standing there with a cut of his forehead and a red swollen eye.

She immediately threw the box of gauze she was holding aside, and stepped down.

"Have a seat on that bed there, Private." Mabel motioned with her chin to the bed on the right hand aisle, "I'll grab some alcohol and bandages."

Cobb nodded, and sat down. His forehead was pounding and his vision was blurry in the eye that Guarnere had hit.

"What happened, Private?" Mabel asked as she approached Cobb.

"I- uh…" Cobb struggled to think up a lie. After that incident, the last thing Cobb wanted was to get him and Guarnere in trouble for fighting. He felt pathetic that Guarnere had taken him out so quickly, "I fell down some stairs."

Mabel stood in front of Cobb, and gently applied pressure with her fingertips around the area of the cut on his forehead, "Uh- huh. Those stairs sure have one hell of a right hook."

Cobb's heart skipped a beat. He was going to be ratted out by a nurse!

"I don't know what you're talking about Ma'am."

Mabel chuckled, "Relax solider, I'm not going to fink on you. Do you have any dizziness or light-headedness?"

"No." Cobb felt his shoulders drop in relief.

"Good. I'll just clean this up this cut for you a bit, but that eye is going to turn into hell of a shiner before is goes away. It'll probably show every colour of the rainbow too."

As Mabel was fixing up Cobb, he vowed to himself that he would never go within a hundred feet of Guarnere's sister again if he could help it. He knew that Guarnere was tough, and one might say even a little eccentric, but when it comes to his sister, Cobb decided that Guarnere was a fucking maniac.

* * *

At Monday morning breakfast, the news of Cobb's humiliation spread like wildfire around the Easy Company Mess Hall. Thankfully, the men were careful enough that none of the NCO's caught wind of the fight.

Bill felt pretty satisfied that morning. It had been nagging at him the previous week to find a way to demonstrate just how serious he was about people respecting Viola. Now that he had finally done it, he could relax and stop fretting. Nobody had said a word to Bill about the incident – which was just fine by him – and he knew that nobody would rat him out to an officer for striking Cobb.

Not many people were fond of Cobb in the Company to begin with. Cobb had been in the service for nine years prior to joining the Paratroopers. He had served with the 1st Armored Division, and took part in the assault landings in Africa. He had even survived the sinking of his troop ship on his way back to the States after his time there. All his experience had given him a sense that he was better than rest of the men at Toccoa, which really rubbed them the wrong way.

As Eugene ate his breakfast, he listened to the men around him gawk and laugh at Cobb's misfortune. The men also talked about how they would never go around Guarnere's sister if they could help it. No sane man would want to end up with a shiner as bad as the one Cobb sported.

Eventually, the sound of the men's voices faded away as Eugene replayed Bill's intimidating lecture from Saturday night over and over in his head. He wanted to respect Bill's wishes, but he knew it'd be hard because of Viola's involvement in his medical training.

Eugene shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to stop worrying and get his ass over to the hospital before he was late for class.

* * *

**A/N: Well I got this out very quickly! Yay! Thank you Prinzessin Mia for you review.**

**The bit about Cobb's previous service in the 1st Armoured division is true by the way. It's one of those the more you know things. **

**Now time for a few side notes:**

**I realized that I was asked awhile ago if Viola will be going to Europe with Easy Company and never really addressed it! Sorry! My answer is no this will not turn into a female paratrooper BoB story - Viola will remain as a traditional nurse. That being said, she will definitely run into Easy Company throughout their journey. **

**Also I would like to say that **even though I don't announce it in my Authors notes, I do spend several hours researching **about Easy Company, the time period, and WW2 history as I write. I believe that it is important to be historically accurate because it makes the story more realistic, and it's only logical when writing a period piece.  
**

**Anyways thanks for reading. I know that there is minimal Eugene Roe in this chapter, but I feel it's necessary to establish a strong sense of how close Bill and Viola are before the romance gets swinging. I promise you the next chapter will be oozing with Eugene! :) **

**Thanks for reading, and please review if you have thoughts; good or criticism. **


	7. Uh Oh!

**Disclaimer: I wish no offense to the real men of Easy Company. I do not own Band of Brother's only the characters you do not recognize from the show. **

* * *

As I am standing behind the podium in the classroom, I can feel my hands start to jitter, and my body start to sweat profusely. When I awoke this morning I wasn't nervous in the slightest, but now that I am in the moment, I feel more nervous than a turkey around Thanksgiving. I look up at the clock and see that it is 07:45.

The men are beginning to file into the classroom slowly. As they walk by, they glance in my direction for a second, but don't pay me any mind. When they realize that I am not Dr. Yates, they stop for a moment to stare at me like I have a third eye sprouting out of my forehead, and then continue on to their seats.

There is about eight or so men in the classroom now. Out of the corner of my eye I can see them glance up to me, whisper something in a low tone to one another, and then stare at me once more. Their ogling really isn't helping my nerves, so I avert my eyes and pretend to study my notes.

I really wish I wasn't so damn nervous. This is simple stuff that I learned in my first semester of nursing school for Pete's sake. The thought of public speaking has always freaked me out, but once I start talking I am usually fine – usually being the key word here.

I keep on fussing with my papers and fidgeting with my hair nervously until a familiar Cajun voice startles me.

"Good morning, Lieutenant**. **I don't see Dr. Yates this morning, is he running late?" I look up to see a smiling Eugene Roe before me.

My cheeks immediately become hot out of shame as I remember my lustful thoughts of Eugene from Saturday night. I inhale deeply and attempt to compose myself before I answer. "Actually he is in Atlanta for some conference, so I will be instructing the class this week."

Eugene's soft brown eyes seem to light up like a Christmas tree. "I am very much looking forward to this week then," he says sincerely with a grin.

My eyes open wide, "I, uh," I stumble over my own words, "I am happy to hear that."

Eugene nods, and gives me one of the sexiest leers I have ever seen as he goes and takes his seat. I can't help but to stop and stare at this overly handsome southerner for a second. He must feel my eyes on him, because suddenly his soft, yet piercing gaze shifts from his desk to me. My breath hitches for a moment as we make eye contact, but I quickly lose my nerve and look up to the clock on the back wall. 07:55 - time to commence this impending train wreck.

The men are scattered across the classroom visiting with one another, so I yell to get their attention. "Can everybody find their seats please?" The assertiveness in my own voice surprises me.

They stop talking almost simultaneously, and stare at me like I am a crazy woman. After a few very awkward seconds, the men look at one another, and then find their seats.

Before I can say anything further, some guy with blonde hair in the back row shouts, "Where's the doctor? Is class cancelled?" The skeptical expression on his face conveys that he really doesn't want me to instruct the class.

"No uh," my voice suddenly cracks, making my face grow incredibly hot, "I am to instruct the class this week."

Much to my dismay, cries of, "what the hell," and "really, a nurse?" ring out throughout the room. My innards feel like they are crumpling as the heavy weights of embarrassment and anxiety form in my gut.

"How the hell did our education get downgraded from being taught by a doctor, to a nurse? No offense Mam,but what do you know beside changing sheets and rolling bandages?" The blond guy in the back row calls out again.

Wow, this guy is really a fucking loud mouth.

Before I formulate a reply,I see somebody get up from their desk, by the wall furthest from the door. "Eh'! The Lieutenant is obviously a qualified professional if she is assigned here. So why don't we let the lady talk!" I have never been so happy to hear a southern drawl in my life. Eugene Roe has once again saved me from making a total fool of myself.

The blonde guy curls his lip upwards, twitches his hands, and reluctantly sits back down knowing that he has just been shut down.

After Eugene's outburst, order returns to the classroom. I send Eugene a grateful glance. He nods and gives me that knee buckling smile in return. His encouragement gives me confidence to continue on with assertiveness. "As I was saying, Dr. Yates will be away this week, and has evidently left me in charge. My name is Lieutenant Guarnere, and I have been serving in the Nursing Corps for little over a year now. Any questions before I continue onto this week's topic?"

"How do we know you are qualified to teach us about combat injuries? Don't nurses usually just clean a lot and put dressings on people?" A tall, brown haired man asked in the front row.

I stifle a laugh from the absurdity of his question. "When I graduated from Nursing School, I worked in emergency departments in Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for about two years. I have seen just about every kind of trauma induced injury you can think of before I joined the service." I can tell from the man's raised eyebrows that he is satisfied with my reply. "Any other questions?"

"What's the worst injury you've ever seen?" A man in the second row asks eagerly.

Two scenario's pop into my mind. The first is in Chicago. The police brought in a railroad bum who had his foot gashed open somehow. Since he had never bothered to get it taken care of it got infected. The infection was so far progressed that when he was brought in his entire foot—and part of his calf—had turned black from gangrene. When we moved him from the wheelchair onto a gurney, some flies and a few maggots emerged from his wound. Now that was a sight and smell I'll never forget, but, seeing as that we all had just eaten breakfast, I probably shouldn't tell that story.

The second scenario is more appropriate, so I proceed to tell it. "In Chicago, ambulances were bringing in casualties from a big automobile wreck downtown. They brought in this guy who had two foot long shard of glass stuck into the right side of his chest. He was slightly coherent, and even able to speak, when they brought him in. Normally somebody would be dead after sustaining such an injury. However, after we had taken some x-rays of the patient, we discovered that the patient previously had tuberculosis, and had a thoracoplasty performed on his right side."

"What the hell is a thora-whatever?" The blonde, loud mouthed guy in the back interrupts me. The intrigued look on his face tells me that my story is making a good impression on him.

"It's a surgical procedure used in advance active cases of TB where a surgeon removes about 7-8 ribs to allow the infected lung to collapse and heal."

"Boy, they sure don't mention that in those TB films in school!" Somebody in a seat by the door exclaims, horrified.

"My Aunt had that procedure done." A Hispanic looking man said from beside the loud mouthed blonde.

"Anyways, the glass shard happened to penetrate the patient in the empty cavity where his lung should have been, which is why he survived so long. Sadly, the patient died before we could get him into surgery from substantial blood loss from his other injuries." I finish my story.

The men's expressions range from impressed nods, to wide and transfixed stares. Apparently I'm a hit! "Any other questions, or can we start this week's lecture?"

Their silence is my cue to start. Maybe this won't be so bad after all…

* * *

A person would have had of been blind to not have noticed how nervous Viola was when she started the class. Her voice shook as she addressed the men, and her hands trembled nervously as she gripped the sides of the khaki podium. When the men started to rouse Viola, Eugene couldn't take the almost desperate look in Viola's eyes; that's why he spoke up like he did.

After he sat back down, Eugene was stunned by his own sudden behavior. He was never the type to openly challenge others, and especially not in public. Eugene noticed out of the corner of his eyes a few of the men were eyeing him oddly, but he didn't care.

As the morning progressed, Eugene was impressed by how competent and confident Viola sounded as she spoke. In the back of his mind he knew that he should have been taking notes, but he was too busy watching Viola.

A few long stands of her raven hair had fallen out of her bun and kept ending up caught in her mouth. Each time this happened, Viola twitched her mouth and blew the hair away. She was so focused on what she was teaching that she couldn't be bothered to tuck her hair behind her ears, which Eugene found adorable. He really wanted to just waltz up to the front of the classroom and do it for her.

It wasn't just Viola's mannerisms that distracted Eugene from what he should be focusing on. The way Viola's dress complimented her body was also driving him crazy.

The standardized, white summer issue dress all the nurses were required to wear was not the most flattering piece of clothing ever invented. It usually hung like a shapeless drape off of their bodies. But to Eugene, it seemed that Viola's dress compliment her curvy figure perfectly.

Another thing Eugene appreciated was the fact that the few times he had seen Viola, she'd never worn lipstick. The fashion of ladies painting their lips fire engine red never seemed to do anything for Eugene. Her lips looked so plump and soft that Eugene couldn't help but daydream about what it would be like to gently cup her cheeks with his hands and kiss her softly with just a hint of steaming passion.

"Well it looks like our time is up. I will see you all at our usual time on Wednesday." Viola's announcement, along with the men hurdling themselves out of the door, brought Eugene back to reality.

He glanced around, and found that he was the only person still seated. Slightly embarrassed by his fantasizing, Eugene shook his head and gathered up his papers. He felt his heart skip a beat when he noticed that he neglected to take down a single note the entire morning.

He felt confused, happy, and a little bit agitated all at once by how his mind seemed to wander off into the clouds since he had met Viola.

Eugene liked to think that he was a very level headed man. He was never the type to indulge in frivolous activities and behaviors. Most of all, he had always made a conscious effort to maintain a strong sense of realism and self-control. Therefore, the way Viola muddled his brain was confusing and a little terrifying to him.

After Eugene got up and was almost out of the door, he felt an urge overtake his body to throw all logic aside. He stopped, turned around, and walked up to Viola; who was gathering up her papers on the podium and getting ready to leave.

"Lieutenant Guarnere, I was wondering if you, uh, would like to accompany me outside to share a smoke." Eugene was surprised by how relatively easy the rolled out of his mouth. It was if somebody had taken his nervous, awkward self, and replaced it with a slightly more confident, easy going one.

* * *

Holy shit… Did that really just happen? I realize that the way I am staring at Eugene with my mouth gaping, cheeks red as a rose, and my eyes wide like an owl isn't the most attractive pose ever. So I quickly close my mouth and try to act normal.

"Yes of course." I manage to say with a hint of dignity, even though my system is still in a bit of a shock.

Eugene's eyes light up instantaneously with delight. "Good."

I gather up my papers and hug them to my chest with one arm. As we exit the classroom and head down the hallway to the front of the ward, neither of us says anything. We do, however, glance at one another through the corner of our eyes. As we walk I get that warm, tingly, almost electrified sensation you get when you are close to somebody you find attractive.

Once we reach the ward, we turn left, and head out the front doors of the hospital. As we walk towards a grassy spot shaded by the roof I say, "thanks for your help today by the way. Public speaking freaks me out sometimes, and that moron in the back didn't help my nerves too much."

Eugene looks at me and gives me a sideways grin. "It's my pleasure, Lieutenant."

"I told you call me Viola!" I tease him while chuckling.

"I'll try my best to remember to do that." Eugene smiles as we stop under the shade provided by the overhanging roof of hospital. He pulls out his pack of cigarettes and picks out two. As he offers me one, he digs in his pants pocket and pulls out his lighter.

I accept his cigarette and hold it between my lips. Eugene stands in front of me, proceeds to light my cigarette, and as he does, he stares deep into my eyes. As our eyes lock it's as if a surge of electricity gets sent into my body and travels down my spine.

After a few intense seconds, Eugene takes a step back and lights his smoke.

"I hope my lecture in there wasn't too boring today." I remark after I take a puff.

Eugene gets the most peculiar look on his face. I have no clue what he is thinking right now.

* * *

Eugene was stunned for a second. To tell the truth, he was so busy staring at Viola that he literally had no idea what the lecture was even about beside the general theme of bandaging wounds… he definitely wasn't going to let onto the fact that he was clueless about what her lecture was, so he bluffed, but not without stuttering a bit, "Uh, I, uh - no it was fine. Very captivating."

Eugene's positive response, along with his apparent awkwardness, caused Viola to smile. "I'm very happy to hear that. I think I did a bit better than Dr. Yates. That guy in the middle row, third seat to the back, didn't fall asleep like he usually does."

The radiant look in Viola's eyes and her beaming smile made Eugene a little weak at the knees. This woman had definitely gained a hold on him. "You definitely are more interesting than Dr. Yates in the classroom…" Eugene paused and gave Viola a weary smile, "you are very interesting outside of the classroom, too."

Viola's eyebrows rose, and her whole face turned red. She didn't say anything a solid minute, which made Eugene very uncomfortable. He was kicking himself mentally for executing such a lame attempt at flirting.

After what seemed like an eternity, Viola put Eugene out of his misery and responded. "Thanks; that's very sweet of you."

The re-emergence of Viola's mesmerizing smile made every stressed out cell in Eugene's body relax. Being shy, he replied with a slow nod and a sheepish smile of his own.

Before anything more could be said, a shrill yet authoritative voice rung out to the left the pair. "Lieutenant Guarnere. There is an impromptu nursing staff meeting in the ward in five minutes. Try not to be tardy like you usually are."

Captain Braxton's voice started Viola, causing her to drop the cigarette between her fingers. She snapped her arm up automatically into a salute. "Yes Mam."

Braxton then walked away, but not before looking Eugene over with her trademark disapproving glare.

"I swear to God that woman has the ability to appear out of thin air." Viola remarked dryly after Braxton was out of ear shot.

Eugene laughed, "Maybe it's a skill C.O's acquire when they are promoted."

"Probably." Viola smiled, "well I better get going, thanks for the smoke, Eugene."

"Anytime, hope you have a good rest of your day, Viola." Eugene replied sincerely.

"You too," Viola said before she took her leave.

He watched Viola walk away until she went up the steps at the front of the hospital, and disappeared inside. After taking a final puff of his cigarette, he threw it to the ground and stomped it out with his foot.

Eugene then proceeded to walk back towards Easy Company's barracks. As he walked, he pondered why Viola makes him act so strangely. That little voice in his head telling him to not care that Viola is Bill Guarnere's sister was apparently beginning to take hold in his mind.

* * *

As I walk back into the ward, my mind seems to be questioning whether or not that had really just happened. I think Eugene was flirting with me… or maybe he was just complementing me as a friend. Who am I kidding; he was probably just trying to be friendly. My brain needs to stop listening to Mabel, and stop jumping to preposterous conclusions that Eugene is attracted to me.

I let out a huff of air and shake my head as I approach the spot by Braxton's office where the other nurses are standing. Of course I am the last to arrive.

"Am I late?" I ask Mabel quietly, noting that Braxton hasn't emerged from her office yet.

"No, Braxton had to make a call, so she'll probably be a few minutes." Mabel furrows her brow, and then that mischievous grin of her forms on her face. "What did you do this morning?"

"What do you mean what did I do this morning?" I tilt my body back defensively.

"Viola Guarnere! You should know that by this point that I can read you like an open book. Something happened with that Eugene this morning." Mabel says smugly.

I bite my lip. "No; nothing happened!" Mabel raises her eyebrows in the fashion she does when she knows I am lying. I let out a sigh, "he asked me to have a smoke with him after the class. It's nothing, Mabel, and don't you jump to conclusion either! He is just a friendly person. End of story."

"Uh huh." Mabel giggles, "You are as blind as a bat when it comes to these things Viola. Mark my words; you're wrong about him."

Before I can refute her statement, Braxton emerges from her layer. "Ah yes. Ladies; good, everybody is assembled. Now the reason for this meeting is that it seems that Dr. Yates got into an automobile accident last night in Atlanta. He apparently broke his left leg. I just got off of the phone with Washington, and they said we probably won't get a replacement physician for about three weeks. I contacted one of the local civilian physicians in town, Dr. Parson, and he said he would be more than happy to assist us in the interval until we get a replacement. I will post his phone number up in various spots of the hospital, as well as throughout the camp if you ladies need to call him to ask a question. Any questions ladies?" All of us nurses are silent, so Braxton finishes up, "good. I'll let you get back to your duties now ladies. Lieutenant Guarnere, may I have a word with you in my office please?"

"Yes Mam," I answer. Before I follow Braxton, Mabel and I exchange worried glances. What does the old wind bag have up her sleeve this time?

Once I am inside her office, I wait until she is seated behind her desk before I sit down in a chair across from her.

Braxton folds her hands on the desk, and sits up straight as a board, "I am sure you are probably wondering what will happen with the 506th medic classes, correct?"

"Yes Mam."

"Are you alright with continuing on teaching the class solo until the replacement physician arrives?"

"Of course Mam."

"Glad to hear that, Lieutenant," Braxton says as she opens one of her desk drawers and pulls out a huge stack of papers. "Here are the rest Dr. Yates' lectures on the remainder of the course. I got them from his quarters. Protocol dictates that every other Friday, you are supposed to give the men a test on the skills they learned. One half of it should be a written portion, while the other half is a hands-on test. If you have any questions or concerns, my door is always open. Dismissed."

I stand up, salute, grab the heap of papers, and exit her office. As I walk back to my tent, I shake my head. This is going to be three interesting weeks…

* * *

"It's so hot," I groan as Mabel and I trudge to the hospital.

"I can't wait till the fall weather comes," Mabel agrees with my griping.

Braxton has called another impromptu meeting this morning. Hopefully the news isn't as bad as yesterday's was. When we enter the back doors, we find that we are the first nurses who have arrived.

Braxton is standing by the door of her office, looking just as unimpressed by the heat as we are. After a few minutes, the other nurses arrive.

Braxton glances at her wristwatch, and then begins her spiel. "Ladies, as you can obviously tell it's hot today… very hot. Any sane medical professional would agree that the risk of dehydration and heat stroke outweigh the need for physical training in this heat. I tried to speak with the C.O. of the 506th to discourage putting the men through an abundance of physical activity today. However, their C.O. is stubborn old man and insists that training goes on as per usual. So when you ladies are on ward duty today, expect a lot of business. I posted Dr. Parson's number up last night, so feel free to call him for whatever you need today. That is all, dismissed."

The nurses, including me and Mabel, grumble as we disband. This is going to be such a fun day.

* * *

I look at the clock on the dresser and see that it's almost 13:00 hours. I might as well head over to the hospital now. When I enter the ward, I am relieved to see that there are only two of the twenty beds occupied. I walk up to Lieutenant Smith at the duty desk.

"I'm here now. You can leave early if you want."

"Thanks," Lieutenant Smith beams as she stands up and hands me the stethoscope hanging around her neck. "There are just the two cases. Private Josephson from Able Company on the right hand bed there sprained his knee. And the other man is Private Cobb from Easy Company. He came in with severe dehydration. I called the Dr. Parson, and he said just keep administering fluids until about nine o'clock tonight. He said he should be good to leave by then. The dosages are on the chart as usual. Have a good shift, Lieutenant."

"Thanks."

After Lieutenant Smith leaves, I stand still for a minute. Cobb… why is that name familiar? I decide check up on the Private Cobb; maybe his face will twig my memory.

As soon as I walk up to his bed, I know who it is. It's that asshole from last weekend from outside of the diner.

The wide eyed look on his face tells me that he is as surprised to see me as I am to see him. I pick up the chart handing off of the bar above the foot of his bed.

"How are you feeling Private, Co - Cobb?" I stumble slightly over his name as I notice the huge shiner over his one eye.

"A bit better Mam," His tone is far more polite than our last encounter.

"If you need anything, just holler," I reply, and walk away to check on the other case. After I am done with him I go and sit down at the desk.

My blood is boiling. If I find out Bill was the one who gave Cobb that shiner I'll kill him! Meanwhile, it's going to grind at me while I wait until the weekend to ask him.

A few hours pass and only one more case comes in. All of a sudden the front doors of the ward swing open and two soldiers walk in. They are both drenched in sweat and wearing their PT clothes. One soldier is hopping on one foot, while the other is being supported by the other solider.

"Fucking Sobel, I really hate him, Malarkey," The brown haired solider who is hopping says to the redhead holding him up. "Don't help that man. What an asshole he is."

"I know, Muck," The red haired man replies brashly.

I get up from the desk and rush towards them. "Sit down on that bed there," I point to the bed closest to the door, on the right hand side.

At the sound of my voice, the soldiers look at one another, and look slightly stunned and amused at the same time. What, have they never heard a Philly accent before?

The hurt solider with the brown hair called Muck obeys and sits down on the bed. The red head named Malarkey stands with his arms crossed beside his buddy.

"What seems to be the problem here, solider?" I ask Muck.

"I tripped running up Currahee, and hurt my ankle." Muck replies in a strained voice.

"Alright lie down please," I say. Muck lies down, and I sit on gently press around the swollen area of his ankle, causing him to hiss in pain. "Can you move your foot solider?"

Muck grits his teeth and manages to move his foot side to side, and up and down.

"Uh huh." I examine his ankle one more time before I speak. As I am doing this I can feel the red head peering over my shoulder. "Well it's not broken, just a bad sprain. I'd like to keep you here over night, though, until the swelling subsides."

"Is it really that bad?" Muck asks, propping himself up on one arm to view his injury.

"Don't be an idiot, Skip. Listen to the nurse," Malarkey cuts in, sounding a bit like a stern Mother.

"Ugh, fine," Muck groans.

"I'll go grab some ice packs from the back," I say. I am happy that I don't have to argue with the soldier. Before I can leave, however, more soldiers come bursting through the front doors.

"God my head hurts, Doc," A blond haired solider with a southern accent whines. To my surprise, the man holding the blonde up is Eugene.

"Go to that bed there." I point to the bed two down to the right of Muck.

Eugene helps the blonde haired solider lay down. I notice that the blond has streaks of vomit down his white PT shirt.

"What do we have here?" I ask Eugene.

"Severe headache, lack of perspiration, nausea, flushed skin and a high temperature," Eugene answers seriously.

"Heat stroke," I confirm the symptoms Eugene just listed off, and he nods. I suddenly notice that his left knee is skinned pretty badly.

"Currahee, I'm assuming." I remark, pointing to his knee.

"Ugh, yes," Eugene says, looking down at his bloody knee.

"Come with me to the back room, Eugene, while I get some ice packs, and I'll clean up your knee for you," I say. I then turn my attention to the blonde, "what is the weight on your dog tags, Private?"

"Uh," He fiddles with them, squints for a moment, then answers, "One hundred thirty-five pounds Mam."

I nod, "we are lacking a physician on base at the moment, so I just have to make a make a call to confirm you proper fluid dosage. I'll be back in a jiffy."

"Can you grab two pairs of the pajamas from the shelf over there and drag the screen over so they can change?" I address Malarkey, who is still lingering by his buddy.

"Yes Mam." Malarkey complies in a polite tone, and then walks over to the shelf on the far wall.

"This way, Eugene," I motion for Eugene to follow me. We walk rather slowly through the ward to not cause Eugene too much pain.

"How did you do that?" I inquire when we enter the supply room.

"Tripped over my own feet and slipped on some gravel," Eugene answers, sounding slightly embarrassed.

"Sounds like something I'd do," I respond, trying to make him feel better. His smile indicates I am doing fine. "Sit down on that box there."

* * *

As Eugene took a seat on a large crate marked blankets, he suddenly wasn't so mad at Sobel for making the company run up Currahee in the heat. If skinning his knee meant being able to spend some extra time with Viola, he was alright with that.

Viola grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol, cotton puffs, and a large bandage with some tape. Before she knelt down to take care of Eugene's knee, she sent him a look of permission with her brown eyes. Eugene smiled at her slightly, which was her signal to continue on.

"I'm sorry for how much this is going to sting." Viola remarked as she crouched down into a squatting position, and wetted a cotton puff with medicinal alcohol. She then put one hand on the side of Eugene's leg, and with the other began to softly wipe the partially crusty blood away with the cotton puff.

Normally Eugene would have hissed out in pain, but Viola's other hand resting on his leg was very distracting. Her touch was so light and soothing, and yet it sent a tingling bolt of electricity through his body, making his heart race rapidly.

After a few moments, Viola applied the bandage and then stood up. "There, all done."

"I'm in your debt Leuit - I mean, Viola." Eugene caught himself before he addressed Viola formally, remembering that she wanted him to call her by her first name.

"Don't worry about it. It's my job after all," Viola chuckled. "Do you mind grabbing some icepacks out of the freezer over there and a few towels while I go call the doctor quickly?"

"Of course not."

* * *

As Eugene and I are returning to the ward with our various supplies, Muck, Malarkey, and the blonde southerner are gossiping like old hens.

"So that's Guarnere's sister. No wonder he gets uppity about her," The blonde says.

"Yeah Popeye, we were there when she first arrived on base. It was hard to get a good look at her because Bill was blocking our view. You know how much of a hard-ass he is," Muck says, sounding amused.

"I wonder what's up with her and the Doc. Yeesh; there on a first name basis," Malarkey comments with raised eyebrows.

"Did you see the way they looked at each other, too?" Muck adds with conviction.

The men hear Eugene and I approaching, so they clam up and pretend like they were not just talking about us. I glance over to Eugene to see if he heard their comments. Judging by his flushed cheeks, I am assuming he did.

All of a sudden, it twigs in my mind… Holy shit! Eugene is in Easy Company. That's Bill's company! How the hell can I be this stupid and not realize this until now?

This isn't good… not good at all.

What's even worse, you may ask? The more I watch Eugene around me, the more I am convinced Mabel is right about him.

I'm doomed…

* * *

**A/N: So I am so sorry this took a month to post! I really hope my next update will be up quicker than that!  
**

**Thanks to all the new people who have favorited, and or, followed this story since the last update!**

**Also, thanks to Prinzessin Mia for your lovely review once again :) I am very glad you are enjoying the pace I have chosen for this story. Your compliment about how you can see the characters from the show in your mind as you read made me smile. And now here's the answer to your questions: Yes Viola will be popping up in places like Bastonge when the war gets going. And no Eugene will remain on the line just like he does in the show. The majority of their contact will be done through correspondence once Easy goes to war. **

**That's all I can really say without giving away too much of my plot. I hope it satisfies your curiosity! **

**Thank for reading, and I always appreciate reviews! :)  
**


	8. Awkward Encounters and Travelling Gossip

The men of Easy Company were sitting in their Mess Hall eating breakfast before their grueling day of training began. They all were wary of eating too much – nobody wanted to end up getting sick because of the heat. The humid air made the usually ripe smelling food, smell completely vile that morning.

"Well lookie who it is boys!" Floyd Talbert bellowed when Popeye approached the table that he, Shifty, Penekala, Malarkey, Gordon, Moor, and Luz, were sitting at.

"Good to see ya buddy." Gordon smiled.

"Jesus, you sure look a hell of a lot better than yesterday afternoon," Luz commented.**  
**

"That's because he isn't puking his guts out anymore," Penekala stated the obvious.

Popeye shook his head, embarrassed by the attention. "The nurse gave me some fluids, and something that helped me go to sleep. I was out for sixteen hours by the time I woke up this morning," Popeye explained as he sat down on the end of the bench beside Malarkey.

"I wish I could have gotten at least a third as much sleep as you did," Luz stated dryly.

"Well why's that? Perconte still snoring?" Popeye chuckled - he already knew the answer to his question.

Perconte was sitting at the table directly behind Popeye, and heard his comment. He swiveled around to face the table."I told you guys, that I can't help it. Its allergies, okay! The snoring should stop when the cold weather comes!"

"Uh huh, until then, we'll all have to keep sleeping with cotton in our ears." Luz cracked, amused by his own witticism.

Perconte waved his hand in annoyance, and turned back around to face the table he was sitting at.

"Hey, is Muck going to be let out this morning?" Malarkey asked Popeye seriously. He was anxious for his buddy to return.

"Well he was supposed to be discharged this morning, but then the nurse told him to stay in bed another day," Popeye replied.

"Lucky bastard," Penekala scoffed as he pierced his toast with his fork to examine if it was even edible.

"Hey, so what was Gonorrhea's sister like?" Malarkey asked jovially as he slapped Popeye on the shoulder.

Talbert's eyebrows shot upwards. "Hope you were a gentleman. You don't want to end up like Cobb."

"Jesus, he ain't idiot," Luz scolded Penekala.

"I beg to differ on that one," Moor interjected sarcastically.

Popeye only rolled his eyes at Moor, not bothering to dignify his insult.

"I know of somebody in this company who may have a few screws loose though," Malarkey said, puffing himself out.

"Oh?" Luz asked before taking a sip of coffee.

"Eugene Roe," Malarkey stated. "Isn't that right Popeye?" he looked at the blonde, urging him to back up his claim.

"Hey, I don't know what's going on with him and Guarnere's sister, so I'm not going to say," Popeye replied truthfully.

Comments of "what?" and "you're full of shit" erupted from the table. The commotion was enough for Perconte to turn around to face the group again.

"What you're saying the Doc is nuts?" Perconte was eavesdropping, and couldn't hold his tongue anymore.

Everybody knew that Eugene Roe was one of the most level headed men in the company, which was why Malarkey's claim was so preposterous.

"Not nuts - just lacking some common sense. When the Doc brought Popeye to the infirmary, Guarnere's sister was the nurse on duty. The Doc and Guarnere's sister were quite casual with one another – they even addressed each other by their first names." Malarkey felt a thrill as he divulged his juicy tidbit.

"You're just pulling our strings! Gene ain't dumb. That's why they picked him for a medic," Gordon stated, not believing a single word had Malarkey said.

"Roe obviously has a death wish," Perconte said dryly, as he got up, grabbed his tray, and departed the scene.

"I wonder if Bill knows," Talbert asked no one in particular.

"Probably not," Malarkey answered nonchalantly.

"Who cares? It's none of our business anyways," Shifty spoke up, feeling uncomfortable with the subject matter.

The rest of the men knew that Shifty was right, so they said nothing more on the subject. Little did they know that Joe Toye was sitting at the table behind the group, and had heard the entire conversation.

* * *

Mabel and I are trying our best to consume our rather rancid smelling breakfast in the Mess Hall. It is so hot again today that it's very hard to convince ourselves to eat.

"What is with that look?" Mabel says before she takes a bit of her toast.

"What look?"

"You have had that horrified look plastered to your face ever since you came off of duty yesterday. It's like you came to some Earth shattering conclusion or something."

"I think this heat is getting to your brain, Mabel," I respond casually.

The last thing I am going to tell Mabel is that Eugene is in Bill's Company. Knowing her, she'll probably laugh for ten minutes straight!

"Whatever, I'll eventually find out what's up. You know I always do," Mabel says with a hint of smugness.

I roll my eyes and decide to change the topic. "I hope we get assigned a new doctor soon. It's really irritating having to call that doctor every time we need a diagnosis, and medication dosages."

"Meh," Mable says as she shrugs her shoulders**.** "It's not too bad. Dr. Yates wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the shed."

"Hah! That's very true." I laugh. "At least the medics won't have to sit and listen to Dr. Yates drone on in his monotone voice anymore."

"Yeah; now they're stuck listening to your loud mouth." Mabel teases me. I roll my eyes at her - whenever she can make fun of my accent, she joyfully seizes the opportunity.

"I just hope I do okay with this assignment. I mean, I have never had to do anything like this before," I tell Mabel truthfully. My lack of self-confidence is evident in my tone.

Mabel takes a sip of her coffee, and then replies, "You'll do fine, Vi. Braxton picked you because you know your stuff. You should have more confidence in yourself."

"Thanks." Mabel's comment makes me feel a bit more at ease. "Well, I better get going and set up for today's lecture," I say as I get up from the table and grab my tray.

"Aren't you going to finish your breakfast?" Mabel asks.

I look down at the dry toast, greasy bacon, and powered eggs."Nope," I answer, wrinkling my nose upwards in disgust.

"Alright, have a good day. And remember, I will find out what's going on with you!" Mabel calls out as I walk away from our table.

I shake my head at Mabel comment as I scrap off my tray and put it in the dirty bin. I then leave the Mess hall, and head towards the hospital. I decide I want a smoke before I go inside, so I walk around to the front of the building and stand under the shaded area where the roof overhangs.

As I am about to light my cigarette, I see a familiar body strolling towards me in the sunshine – it's Eugene Roe! Good grief, I can't seem to stay away from this man!

As he approaches, I try to act casual, and pretend not to notice him.

Once Eugene reaches the shade, he stops dead in his tracks. His eyes are wide and transfixed on me. Talk about a deer in headlights!

However, judging by how fast my heart is pounding, and how sweaty my palms have suddenly become; I probably look no different than he does.

After a very awkward moment, he regains some composure and walks up to me with flushed cheeks. "I uh, well, do you mind if I stand here and have a smoke with you, Lieut – I mean, Viola?"

"Of course not," I tell him with a nervous smile.

Judging by Eugene's tense posture and his jumbled speech, he is probably thinking about the same thing I am – how we walked in on the men from Easy Company gossiping about the two of us yesterday.

I really hope the soldier's stupid gossip stayed between themselves. If Bill caught wind of it, I would never hear the end of it. Furthermore, being the behemoth that Bill is, he would probably beat the living shit out of Eugene as well.

"I must apologize if I startled you just now. The sun was in my eyes and I didn't see you standing here until I reached the shade," Eugene states sincerely.

"No, you didn't startle me," I lie.

After Eugene lights himself a smoke, he says, with a hint of hesitation, "Thanks for patching up my knee yesterday by the way. I owe you one."

I feel my cheeks start to grow hot. "You don't need to thank me. It's what the Army pays me for," I reply rather timidly.

Dear lord, this man knows how to make a girl feel the impact of a compliment!

"If you say so, but I will find some way to repay in the future," Eugene replies while giving me that sexy grin of his.

"You are not a person who takes no for an answer, are you?" I joke, trying to break the tense atmosphere.

After a moment of hesitation, Eugene says, "What would you say, if I said, that that is a true statement?"

The way he is looking at me intently, with those gorgeous eyes of his, makes me think there are several layers to his question.

Before I can reply, out of the corner of my eye, I see somebody in a white nursing uniform walking in our general direction. Once this person enters the shade, I can tell who it is…Mabel couldn't have picked a worse time to walk back from breakfast!

To my relief, Mabel walks right by Eugene and I, but not without shooting me a surprised glance. Boy I am going to get an earful when we are both off duty tonight!

I suddenly realize that Mabel's distraction has caused an unintentional pause. "I uh, wouldn't think that you're bluffing," I say quickly, not wanting to leave Eugene hanging. I take a final puff of my cigarette, and stomp it out. "Well I better get inside, talk to you later, Eugene."

Eugene smiles and nods at me, and then I walk away quickly.

I am really bad for just up and leaving like that when a situation gets too awkward. It's not a good habit to have either; nine times out of ten it makes the next encounter even worse. I have never claimed to be a socially competent individual!

As I walk into the hospital, I shake my head—why does that man make me act so awkwardly? I get that I am physically attracted to him, but is it more than that?

Wait! Get a hold of yourself, Viola! Eugene Roe is just a friendly, courteous man whom you keep running into. It's just a fact of life that he also happens to be good looking. There is nothing more to this situation than that!

I really need to stop spending my time fretting over a man. I am here to be a nurse, not to find a damn boyfriend!

* * *

"It looks like our time has run out. I will see you all on Friday," Viola announced at the end of the lecture, much to Eugene's surprise.

Compared to Dr. Yates' lectures, which flowed as quickly as molasses, Viola's went by like a flash of lightning. For the second time that week, Eugene went through an entire lecture and neglected to write down a single piece of information. If he kept going at that rate the Army would surely throw him out of the service for being a total dunce!

Eugene lingered by his desk for a few minutes while the classroom cleared out. He pretended to fiddle with his papers while watching Viola out of his peripherals. When it looked like she was organized and ready to depart, Eugene took his cue and walked up to her.

"I uh," Eugene felt his heart pounding wildly, "I hope I didn't make things weird out there before. I didn't mean anything by my words."

However, the truth was that he really did mean every word he had said. He had a feeling that Viola caught on to his underlying meaning, but he didn't want to voice his suspicions and freak her out in case he was wrong.

That would be just like him, though—come off too strong, freak Viola out, and send her running into the hills! The last thing Eugene wanted to do was to turn Viola away.

Talking to women was never his specialty, but for the most part, it was very easy to converse with Viola. His gut told him that she genuinely enjoyed their brief conversations and that she wasn't just humoring him, like other women had done in the past when he tried to show that he was attracted to them in his shy, backward manner.

Viola's eyebrows rose for a moment, before her face broke into a smile. "Don't worry about Eugene."

"If you say so," Eugene said, and felt a wave a relief wash over him. "Would you like to go out for a smoke?"

"I would love to, but I have to go on supply duty in literally five minutes. Will you take a rain check for Friday?" Viola answered, a little concerned that Eugene may think she was just blowing him off.

"It's a date – I mean, that sounds good!" Eugene cheeks instantly flushed beet red over his mistaken word choice.

Viola's wide eyes conveyed that she was just as shocked by his words, as he was. Although after a second, she chuckled. "Good. Well, then I will see you on Friday." Viola then took her leave, and left Eugene alone in the empty classroom.

He stood still for a second to recover from his embarrassment.

That woman was a mystery to him. At one moment it seemed like Viola was attracted to him, but then the next it seemed like she was just being friendly…

Even though most of their interactions ended up in Eugene making himself look a fool in one way or another, he still relished every moment of them. He appreciated that unlike other women, Viola didn't point out how shy and odd he was. Eugene also adored the fact that Viola, acted almost as awkward as he did. He sighed deeply, and decided that only time would tell the real truth of their odd scenario.

* * *

As the darkness of night descended upon Toccoa Camp, Joe Toye felt that he could not withhold the information he heard at breakfast any longer. He sat up on his bunk and swung his legs off the side to face Bill Guarnere.

"Hey Bill, wanna go outside for some air?" Toye asked.

Bill put the magazine he was reading down on his chest. "Naw, not really. My legs are really sore from doing that stupid obstacle course today."

"I think the two of us really should."

Joe's tone told Bill that he really didn't have a say in the matter. "Alright." Bill sighed as he set the magazine aside and sat up. He was slightly ticked that Joe spoke up, right before he got to the entertainment news.

The men put on their boots, and then they exited the barrack. The walked a few paces away from the door, and then stopped.

Toye looked at the ground and crossed his arms before he looked up at Bill. "I heard some talk at breakfast today, Bill. Malarkey did most of the talking, so who knows if what he said is true. You know how much he likes to shoot the shit."

"What the hell did you hear?" Bill's tone came off a little brash. He didn't like the way Toye was beating around the bush.

Toye shifted on his feet uncomfortably, and ran a hand through his short black hair. "It involves your sister, and one of the men in the Company."

Bill's eyes immediately narrowed as he puffed himself out. "Which guy?" Bill growled through clenched teeth.

"Eugene Roe, but-" Before Joe could explain that what he heard was probably just some trivial, mindless gossip, Bill cut him off.

"That fucker!" Bill exclaimed**. **He took a step backwards, and shook a fist into the air. "I warned that Cajun to stay away from her!"

"Why, did something happen with those two before?" Toye questioned. He was confused by Bill's abrupt reaction over the mention of Eugene.

"No." Bill paused for a moment to calm down. He didn't want to cause a scene out in the compound. "She is in charge of training the medic's for the regiment. That's probably how they know each other."

"I didn't mean to upset you, but I just thought that you should know about what I heard." Toye said, feeling very relieved he had told Bill. Joe hated withholding secrets.

"Yeah, thanks, I appreciate it buddy," Bill replied. His absent sounding tone told Joe that Bill was formulating some sort of a plan in his mind.

"Are you going to say anything to Roe about it?"

Bill twitched his mouth side to side, before he said, "Not yet. I am going to ask Viola about it the next time I see her, though. But you can be damn sure I am going to keep an eye on Roe from now on! Ain't nobody around here going to fraternize with my sister!"

Joe couldn't help but to crack a smile. It was slightly humorous, yet admirable, how Bill got so worked up over Viola. "You'd think after seeing what happened to Cobb, Roe would be smarter." Toye remarked as the pair started to walk back towards their barrack.

Bill let out an amused laugh - Joe had a really good point. "Bah, who know what he is thinking?" Bill stopped at the doorway of their barrack, and said with conviction, "Mark my words though, Eugene Roe is now on my radar."

* * *

When I get back to our tent after my grueling day of double duty, all I want to do I go to sleep. But, as I am opening the door, I see that Mabel is sitting on her bed. Her straight and alerted posture tells me that she has been waiting anxiously for me to return.

"It's about damn time you came home!" Mabel shouts excitedly as she jumps up to her feet.

"I see you have enjoyed your day off," I retort, envying her.

"I have. Do you have anything you would like to explain about this morning after breakfast…?" Mabel inquires with a hint of sarcasm.

Wow! In fewer than ten seconds, she has already managed to bring up the topic of Eugene. I am so exhausted, I really don't feel like having a drawn out conversation about how she saw Eugene and I having a smoke together.

"Yes Mabel, you did see me sharing a smoke with Eugene. And no, there wasn't anything to it. That spot is just a popular place to have a smoke. In case you haven't noticed, it is as hot a Dante's inferno around here lately, so standing under a little shade is the logical thing to do. Also, there is not a single hint of romantic intent between Eugene and I. We are simply acquaintances. End of story. Now, I am tired, so I am going to go to sleep. Good night!" In a few sentences I play out the entirety of what could have been a long, drawn out, conversation.

Mabel's eyes are sparkling with amusement. I can tell that she is trying to stifle a laugh. "Whatever you say, Vi. Your reaction just told me that there is something budding between the two of you, though!" She exclaims, almost singing she is so giddy.

I send her an unimpressed glare, and proceed to change for bed. Nothing more is said as me and her crawl into our bunks.

After twenty minutes of silence, Mabel speaks up, "You asleep yet, Vi?"

"No." I sigh, cursing the hot summer air in my mind.

"I still haven't figured out what was bugging you this morning, but after tonight, I think I am close to figuring it out," Mabel says jovially.

I can't help but to chuckle - she never gives up. "I'm sure you will Mabel…"

* * *

**A/N: Hello there! So the plot is slowly thickening. I know this chapter is rather short compared to the last few, but it set the stage for the next chapter.**

**I just wanted to state that I realize compared to basically any other BoB fic around here, I am spending a crapload of time on the training aspect of Easy's story. However, I am doing it to slowly develop what is budding between Eugene and Viola.  
**

**A random note: I was re-reading Stephen Ambrose's book the other day and realized that he said the men usually drank at the camp's PX, because there were no nearby towns. In chapter 6, Viola and Bill go into the town of Toccoa. Also, later on in a few more chapters, the characters will go into the town of Toccoa on a Saturday night when they get a pass. Even though Ambrose stated there wasn't any nearby towns; I found from my online research (from several sources), that the town of Toccoa was only like five or six miles away from the camp. So my characters going into the town really isn't a big stretch of imagination! I'm taking one of those fanfiction liberties here, lol.**

**Thanks to Prinzessin Mia for your wonderful review as always! I'm very glad you like my story haha. Also, a big thanks to my wonderful beta Orchids117!**

**Thanks for reading and please review, they always make my day!**


	9. Third Time's the Charm - Part 1

"I swear to God, if they try to serve us that slop they pass for porridge again - I will lean over the counter and strangle those fucking cooks." Bill Guarnere grumbled as picked up a metal tray at the beginning of the chow line.

"What I wouldn't give for a stack of my wife's, steaming hot homemade pancakes, served with a big bowl of fresh strawberries," Johnny Martin remarked from behind Bill. He was practically drooling as he spoke.

Guarnere moaned thinking about how good real, homemade food would taste. After five minutes, the men got their food which thankfully was not watery porridge. The pair was heading toward the table where Joe Toye and a few other men were sitting, at in the far left hand corner of the Mess Hall, when Bill suddenly halted down the aisle.

"You go on ahead and sit with Joe. I think I'm going to eat with Roe today," Bill remarked to Johnny. His tone determined that the issue wasn't up for debate.

Bill was a man on a mission.

* * *

Eugene Roe was sitting by himself, slowly picking away at his bacon and eggs when Bill Guarnere suddenly plopped down beside him. Gene was sure that his entire cardiovascular system halted for a moment. They were sitting so close together that their shoulders were touching.

What the hell was Guarnere doing…? If he was going to get the stuffing beat out of him, he hoped that it wouldn't be so early in the morning.

"Hiya Doc. What do ya hear, what do ya know? You learning a lot from my sister, in those fancy medic classes of yours?" Bill's forceful, almost angry tone conveyed that there was a purpose to his impromptu social call.

At the mention of Viola, Eugene choked on the sip of piping hot coffee he had just taken. After a bout of strangulated gurgling noises, Eugene squeaked, "Good, I uh - I am learning a lot."

Eugene knew that his reply complete bullshit – he didn't have the slightest clue about what Viola had teaching all week. The only thing he learnt by the end of the class, was that it was actually was possible to become more attracted to Viola.

"You ever have a conversation with my sister?" Bill spit out his next question as quickly as a machine gun fires out bullets. He clearly did not care about Eugene's academic endeavors.

"No never!" Eugene blurted out in a high pitched voice.

Bill suspected from Eugene's unusual tone and sweaty forehead, that the medic was lying through his teeth... but that was the last thing he was going to let on, "Good to hear. I trust that you're telling me the truth, Doc."

"Of c, c, course I would," Eugene stuttered. He quickly looked up at the large twenty-four hour clock which hung on the far wall by the entrance, "I have to get going. I don't want to be late for Viola's – I mean your sister's – uh, Lieutenant Guarnere's lecture." Eugene tried to make his escape, but Bill placed one of his large hands on Eugene's shoulder and pushed him back down into the seat.

"You haven't finished your coffee yet," Bill said with a mouth full of food.

"Not thirsty," Eugene blurted out.

This time he was quick enough and dodged Bill's grasp when he squirmed out of his seat. Without hesitation, Eugene made a bee line out of the Mess Hall and to safety.

That was way to close.

* * *

So that he wasn't standing in the middle of the chow hall like a moron, Martin went and sat down beside Joe Toye. Together, the men watched the scene of Guarnere vs. Roe, play out. Toye happened to have an excellent view of the spectacle.

Before Johnny could comment to Joe, about Bill's odd bout of socialization; Joe beat him to the punch, "What the hell is Gonorrhea doing?"

"I have no fucking clue," Johnny replied flatly as he took a sip of his coffee.

"I knew I shouldn't have told him bout' what Malarkey said," Toye muttered while shaking his head.

"Said what?" Johnny asked in his harsh, Philly tone.

"I never should have told Bill - it was probably just some trivial scuttlebutt. Now he is going to turn into a hundred and fifty pound fruit cake!" Toye scorned while throwing his fork down on the table. "They call this biscuit fucking food? Christ, these things should be for mortar rounds!" Toye said aside.

"Who gives a fuck about the biscuits - what scuttlebutt are you talking bout'?" Johnny was becoming increasingly agitated.

Toye let out a huge sigh. He was about to explain the situation, when Bill approached the table and wedged himself between his two buddies.

Bill had the smuggest, most self-satisfied look, either man had ever seen upon his face.

"What the hell was that about?" Johnny questioned Bill the second he planted his ass down onto the bench.

"Nothing, just had a friendly little chat with our medic. It important to keep up morale," Bill chimed, not wanting to disclose any more details.

Toye rolled his eyes, "Just don't boost his moral to the point where he winds up in the infirmary."

* * *

As Eugene strolled toward the direction of the hospital, he had one thought running through his mind; what in the name of the Holy Mother Mary, prompted Guarnere to approach him like he had just done.

He highly doubted that Viola would have said anything to her brother. When would she have gotten the chance? The only real time the men could get to the nurses outside of the hospital, was on weekend leaves.

So many different scenarios were swirling around his mind like a tornado, that before he knew it; Eugene found himself at the front steps of the hospital. He looked down at his wristwatch. Great - he was almost a half an hour early. _Damn Guarnere._

He sighed and walked over to the shaded spot where the roof overhung. What else did he have to do to kill time, except smoke? In the back of his mind he hoped that Viola might run into him. After all, she did promise to share a smoke him a smoke on Wednesday.

Eugene just stood there and chain smoked to calm his nerves. He watched people make their way back and forth across the training field that separated the medical buildings from the rest of the camp. A few nurses passed by him on their way to the hospital but sadly, none of them were Viola. After about fifteen minutes, he was about ready to give up and head inside when out of the corner of his eye he saw a familiar figure heading towards him.

"Fancy meeting you here," Viola called out as she approached Eugene. It would have been faster to enter the hospital from the back doors, but she had deliberately altered her path with the hope that she would run in to Eugene.

Her rationale was that maybe she could bum a smoke from him, seeing as that she was running low – _not because she wanted to flirt with him._

"Likewise," Eugene chimed, smiling ear to ear. He was very happy and relieved that Viola hadn't stood him up.

"Do you mind if I bum a smoke off of ya'? I ran out last night, and I haven't had time to run over to the PX to buy some more," Viola said. She surprised herself by how steady her nerves were as she spoke to Eugene.

"Of course," Eugene happily complied and fished his pack of Lucky Strikes out his, front right, pants pocket. "Here take the whole pack."

Viola's eyes widened in shock, "Really – I mean that's not necessary."

"Yes it is. I know how bad it is to go through the day having to bum your smokes off of people," Eugene paused, bit his lower lip, and nervously scratched the back of his head with one hand, "I also could never refuse a beautiful dame like yourself."

In a blink of an eye, Viola's face turned beet red, "Th, tha – thank you." She knew that she should have said more – god knows that her mind was screaming at her, telling her to spit out some sort of reply.

Eugene couldn't help but to grin at Viola's mousy expression – it just might have been the cutest thing he had ever seen. "You're welcome," he said as he held extended the cigarette toward Viola.

Viola then accepted the cigarette, put it loosely between her lips, and let Eugene light it up for her. After she took a puff, and steadied herself, she asked, "So, are you ready for the exam today?"

"I uh – yeah I guess so…" Eugene tried to play it cool.

However, the truth was that he had completely forgotten all about the exam. Hell, he didn't even know what the hell they had talked about all damn week.

"You'll do fine, I'm sure! You always look so focused and attentive, whenever I look out in your direction during class." Viola hadn't slightest clue that Eugene was bluffing.

* * *

"I can't believe we are finally getting off of this base! It seems like an eternity since we arrived here!" Mabel exclaimed in a peppy tone, as she put in her pearl stud earrings.

"We've been here for three whole weeks. I went out last Saturday with Bill, remember?" I reply laughing at Mabel's childish excitement.

"I never got off the base last weekend! This place is driving me crazy, Vi! I don't see why couldn't we have gotten assigned to a base that isn't under construction, and in the stuck in the middle of a fucking forest? Like really, they could have at least built the medical personnel's barrack before they started on the men's barracks. The soldiers outnumber us one to forty - I think!"

I finish positioning my dress cap, and take one last look at my appearance in the mirror, "Oh well, its life in the service I guess. I for one am just glad I get a break from marking those damn tests from yesterday."

Mabel lets out a groan, and grabs her purse off of her bunk, "You ready? If we don't hurry we are going to miss the bus with the other nurses going into town."

"Yes, yes I'm ready." I scoff irritated by Mabel's prodding.

"Good, let's go then!"

We walk towards the gate as fast as our heels will allow us to. Just as we are approaching the gate and can see the khaki bus; its motor suddenly roars to life. Mabel and I look at each other and begin to bolt towards the bus, flapping our arms like a over excited chickens. Sadly - but not surprisingly - the bus doesn't halt and peels right on out of the compound.

"The fuck do we do now?" I say, huffing slightly from out little sprint.

"Wait around for the next bus I guess. We could always sign out a jeep from the motor pool as well." Mabel suggests.

"Both you and I know that a jeep is out of the question. Neither one of us is willing to spend the night sober just to drive back home to the base. Besides, I don't even know how to drive." I assert.

"Hah!" Mabel blurts out between giggles. "You don't know how to drive?"

I tilt my head backwards, "No, there was virtually no cars in South Philly. Besides, maybe only two or three people could afford to own a car."

"Wow," Mabel raises her eyebrows, "I have been driving since I was fourteen years old. Father taught me in his old 1919, Model-T Ford. I spent hours every day driving around the estate until he was satisfied."

"When I was fourteen, I was busy trying to keep Bill from fighting out on the streets, and avoiding my Ma's lessons on how to be a good Italian house wife," I respond in a dry tone. It always amazes me how Mabel and I, came from such drastically different backgrounds.

"Didn't you have to drive when you living in, Chicago?" Mabel asks, not fully being able to grasp the concept.

"No, I lived very close to the hospital so I walked most of time. If the weather was ugly outside, I would just catch a ride with my boyfriend." I reply, literally cringing at the thought of my Chicago years.

"Ah, I see." Mabel nods her head satisfied.

"Now this little trip down memory lane has been lovely, but it still doesn't solve the problem of how we are going to get into Toccoa."

"I guess we'll just have to wait around for the next bus like you said. It should be here in about twenty minutes." Mabel sighs. Suddenly a mischievous grin spreads across her delicate features, "Maybe we can find ourselves some male companionship on the bus tonight."

I roll my eyes and groan at Mabel. As I rummage in my purse for my lighter and pack of smokes, I rant, "The last thing I want is to be dogged around by some desperate kid who is barely eighteen! The only solider I wish to talk to tonight is my brother!"

"What if you happen to run into that dashing Eugene, character?" Mabel asks with a smug look.

As fast as a flash of lightning, I feel my cheeks grow hot. However, I push my shoulders back, tilt my head slightly upwards and respond in a very cool, calculated tone, "I will politely say hello, and go about my business."

Mabel silently stares at me for a moment with her lips quivering. Out of nowhere, the volcano inside her erupts and she bends over laughing like a hyena, "You, politely - Eugene! HAH!" Mabel is laughing so hard she is can't even form a proper sentence.

I cross my arms over my chest and shake my head, "I told you, there is absolutely nothing going on between me and Eugene."

"Oh, okay whatever you say Vi." Mabel replies as her bout of hysteria is dies down. She runs the backside of her hands across her cheeks, to wipe away tears.

She starts to shoot out some other frivolous wisecrack, but thankfully a bus roars into the compound to pick up the next batch of people going into town.

"Hey look another bus! We are in luck!" Mabel beams as she starts to walk towards it.

"Thank Christ…" I mumble under my breath.

I have the feeling this is going to be one interesting night.

* * *

Mabel and I have been sitting by ourselves at this table in the corner for about a half an hour now, and still there is no sign of my brother. I let out a long irritated sigh, as I take the last swig of my bourbon.

"Jesus Vi, take a chill pill. In case you haven't noticed, there are barely any paratroopers here right now. It's mostly us medical folks. He'll get here."

I shoot Mabel a look of disdain, even though I know she speaks the truth. "My drink is gone," I state dryly.

Mabel arches an eyebrow, "How is that my problem?"

"I got the first round, so now it's your turn to fight your way through the common rabble of undersexed males to get us the second round."

"If you say so," Mabel rolls her eyes before she gets up and heads towards the bar.

Almost right after she leaves my presence, a swarm of noisy soldiers come stampeding into the tavern. To my relief, and slight displeasure; I hear Bill's voice bellow clearly above the rest of the chatter.

"Where the hell is she?" I hear Bill shout to the two men who are standing next to him.

"I got no fucking clue what your sister looks like!" The short man with a devil grin yells back at Bill.

"Eh, isn't she the one over there in the corner?" says the guy that tagged along with Bill to my tent the other night, whose name I can't remember for the life of me.

Bill leans forward slightly and squints in my direction, "It sure is."

Bill and his little posse reach the table the same time Mabel, comes back with our drinks. As she sits back down on her chair to the left of me, she remarks, "Hello boys – Vi, here thought you were gonna stand us up."

"Hah! Is that so Vi," Bill asks in a mocking tone.

"I never said that," I shoot Mabel a dirty look, "I simply complained that it only took you a century to get your fat ass over here, Bill."

"You have just been told Guarnere," the short guy with porcupine like hair laughs.

Normally, I would have felt embarrassed by being so forward with Bill in public, but the bourbon is staring to warmly buzz through my body, so - I really don't give a rat's ass tonight.

"Bah," Bill waves off the man's comment.

"I'm gonna get us some beers," the tall guy with black hair says as he walks away towards the bar.

"Good thinking Toye," Bill exclaims over his shoulder.

"So you're the sister huh?" the short man asks me while grinning.

"And you are…?" I ask.

"Viola, that's George Luz - biggest pain the ass to ever come out of Rhode Island." Bill cuts in.

"That I can believe," I remark dryly. I am not at all interested in his blatantly, over the top character.

Luz takes the hint, and turns his attention over to a googly eyed Mabel. "And who is this lovely young lady?"

"Mabel Fields," Mabel proudly chimes.

I shake my head at Mabel. She has such brains, but all her common sense just vanishes once she it sitting across from an attractive man in a uniform.

Just then, the soft music wafting over from the jukebox explodes into the wailing tune of Fletcher Henderson's, Sugar Foot Stomp. Simultaneously, men and woman partner up and head over to the large wooden dance floor.

"I believe you said something about dancing last weekend, Bill?" I comment, remembering his promise from last weekend.

A grin forms from ear to ear on Bill's face. He sheds his jacket and takes the hat off of my head. I stand up, he grabs my hand and leads me onto the dance floor. As we swing and jive, I can't believe that after all of these years Bill can still dance as good as me. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though, what girl doesn't love a good dancer?

After the song ends a slow ballad song comes on so, Bill and I hightail it off the dance floor. Slow dancing with Bill would just be so weird.

As we weave our way through the thick crowd back to our table, I see that more of Bill's comrades have flocked to the vicinity.

Oh shit.

I recognize three out of the four newcomers as the men that were gossiping about Eugene and I, in the ward the other day. Maybe if I play it cool, nobody will bring it up. God only knows what Bill would do if they started yipping...

It's also nice to see that Mabel and the Luz guy have disappeared... not! I can't wait to chew her out for deserting me tomorrow. It'll be nice payback for all the flack she has been giving me about Eugene.

May bourbon give me courage…

"Geez I didn't know you could move like that," the familiar redhead addresses Bill.

"What? Don't like it that I can twirl a girl about better than you Malark?" Bill jabs at Malarkey, as we reach large wooden table.

"Bullshit," Malarkey disregards my brother.

Bill chortles and says, "Vi here, is the one the taught me how to dance."

"Aww how sweet. Bill dancing with his sister," Muck, the man whose ankle I treated, jokes.

I roll my eyes, grab my bourbon and wash it all down in one swig which judging by the multiple sets of raised eyebrows I see, was very "_un-lady like"_.

"Easy there doll," Malarkey tries to patronize me.

"Don't think I can handle some bourbon?" I refute much to his surprise.

I see Bill shooting Malarkey a death glare, causing him to fidget nervously in his chair. "No, I mean I -," Malarkey stammers.

Somebody changes the conversation to some sort of training exercise so; I snatch the opportunity to find out where the hell Mabel is. I grab my purse that is hanging off of the back of my chair, and tell Bill, "I am going out for some air and a smoke."

Bill nods and replies, "Don't you run away on me now. In a little bit we should leave these buffoons and go someplace quiet to talk."

I laugh inside – Bill does know me well. I can only stand large crowds for so longs until I want to run away and hide.

"Be back in a few minutes," I reply as I get up and leave.

I am glad he wants to talk, so I can drill him on what the hell happened to that Cobb guy's face.

I struggle to navigate my way through the dense crowd. Now it is a sea full of Khaki colored coats, and ogling women from the town, hoping to find a service man to have a good time with.

The door feels like it's a million miles away. Christ almighty, I am definitely not a crowd person.

All of sudden I feel a sharp pain in my side, a liquid spread across my shirt, and the distinct sound of glass shattering. The sound was loud enough for the entire room to shut their traps.

I look down to the floor and see Eugene Roe sitting on his butt, cow-eyed and mortified beyond all reckoning.

* * *

**A/N: Hello there! I hope you have enjoyed part one of this chapter. I decided to split it into two parts because it would have been way too long in one chunk.**

**So I apologize profusely for not updating this story for like 3 months... I had such a bad case of writers block it was crazy! Thankfully it has lifted!**

**In the interval this story was sitting, I had time to read Malarkey's, Guarnere's/Babe's, and Stephan E. Ambrose's book. I am going to try to incorporate elements of these books here and there to give my story a strong sense of realism and validity. **

**In this chapter the part about Mabel speaking about how there were literally no cars in South Philly came from Bill's book. It's hard to imagine! **

**Anyways, thank you for all of the follows and favorites I got over the past few months. **

**And thank big thank you to "cchickki" for you lovely review. It gave me confidence that Viola is a well rounded character. **

**Thank you for reading, and please review! :) **


	10. Third Time's the Charm - Part 2

Eugene Roe had never felt like such a fool in his entire life. One second he was holding mug of beer in each hand and the next, he was sitting flat on his ass, covered in beer. It took him a moment to regain his bearings and realize what exactly had occurred.

When he looked up and saw that Viola was staring down at him, wide eyed, mouth gaping and drenched in beer – he wished he had never been born. Besides Viola's gaze, Eugene, could feel at least fifty separate pairs of eyes on him. His body was frozen in a state of shock and mortification, even though he wanted flee the scene.

"Way to go, Roe! Now that's how you treat a nurse." The sarcastic voice of Hoobler, hollered out. His comment caused a deafening eruption of laughter throughout the bar.

Hoobler's comment added just enough coal to Eugene's furnace, to make him scramble upward and made a beeline for the door. He needed to get out the bar as fast as possible – which ultimately meant as far away from Viola, as possible.

"Gene wait!" Viola urgently called out after him.

When she saw that Eugene did not acknowledge her and kept on pushing his way through the crowd; she made a snap second decision and decided to follow Eugene to the door.

Viola, could hear Bill call out her name from the back of the crowded, noise filled tavern. She assumed that he was probably trying to weed his way through the rabble to see what the commotion was all about. Although she knew that Bill would give her an earful later; Viola, decided to purse Eugene. Making sure that he was okay was more important that her brother, at the moment.

* * *

Eugene kept hearing the click-clack of Viola's heeled shoes trail behind him on the concrete sidewalk. He hoped that if he would keep on walking, Viola would give up her chase and leave him alone to wallow in his state of mortified, misery.

Block after block he walked, and still the sound of Viola's heels did not dissipate. He had no idea how long he had been walking for, but Eugene, eventually reached the end of the last block in town of Toccoa. He stopped dead in his tracks because if he walked any further, he'd have to wander out into the dark forest – which was definitely not something he wanted to do.

Eugene reluctantly turned around to face the way from which he had just come. He hoped that it wasn't actually Viola who was jogging up to him in the darkness. More than anything, Eugene, wished that the world would suddenly go black and he'd wake up lying in cot, back on the base.

Sadly, within a few seconds Viola caught up to him, breathing rather heavily. The way the dim glow of the streetlamp illuminated her beautiful face – there was no denying that it was Viola.

"Holy shit, did you really have to make me follow you all the way out here wearing these damn heels?" Viola blurted out. "Didn't you hear me calling your name?"

* * *

Crap. I've done it now.

Eugene's saucer like eyes and rigid posture; tell me all I need to know. I have finally scared Eugene Roe, to the point of no return.

This awkward silence of him staring at me, like he has just caught me murdering his cat, is way too much to bear.

"No…" Eugene drawls in a mousy tone while looking down at his shoes.

Suddenly it clicks in my brain – he thinks I'm righteously pissed off at him. My thick Philly accent has yet again, made me sound like a raging, homicidal lunatic.

My thoughts suddenly change gears when I notice that there is a small stream of blood, slowly trickling down the right side of his face. "Shit Gene, you're bleeding!"

My observation breaks Eugene out of whatever petrified trance he was in. He reaches up with his right hand and touches the cut on his forehead. Gene hiss out in pain and frustration.

My nursing instincts take over, and without thinking about my actions; I close the gap between us. I gently press around the edges of the inch and half long cut with the back of my second and third fingers, "That looks pretty deep. Do you feel any glass shards in there?"

* * *

Eugene could not believe what was happening. Viola was standing close enough to him that if he wanted to; he could lean forward and softly press his lips to hers. He had only fantasized about it three or four thousand times over the past few weeks.

However, Eugene was not one of those men who are confident about that sort of thing – especially when it came to, Viola. Hell, Eugene surprised himself every time he managed to articulate an intelligent sentence around her.

"Uh, I don't th-th-think so," Eugene stuttered trying not to focus on how pleasantly close Viola's body was to his.

Before she could reply, the pair heard voices arguing in the distance.

"Jesus Christ, Hoob – I thought you said that saw my Sister go this way! Where the hell are we anyways?"

"I did, Bill! Bain said that he saw Roe go this way too." Hoobler defended himself. He was still sour over the way Bill shouted at him in the tavern, about why he didn't think of stopping Viola from running after the Doc. The last time Hoobler checked, he wasn't responsible for Gonorrhea's sister.

"If I get my hands on that fucking Cajun, I'm gonna squeeze them around his neck until his head pops off! Ain't nobody humiliates my sister and gets away with it!"

"The Doc looked more humiliated than she did, Bill," the husky voice of Joe Toye rung out.

Viola took her fingers off of Eugene's forehead and pressed them against lightly against his lips, signalling for him to be quiet. She surprised him further when she entwined the fingers of her free hand, with one of Eugene's hands.

"Follow me," Viola whispered before she led him toward the dark forest, about five or so feet from their previous spot underneath the street lamp. Once they crossed the threshold, where urban merged into wilderness; the pair went and hid behind the first fat pine tree they saw.

Eugene was so taken aback by Viola's actions that his brain didn't know how to process what was happening. In a matter of thirty minutes, he went from practically salivating while watching Viola's body move across the dance floor – to hiding from her manic brother behind a tree in the, Chattahoochee Forest.

What did him in the most was the fact that once they had positioned behind the tree, with their backs pressed against the bark of the tree side by side – Viola _still_ held onto his hand.

Pleasant bolts of electricity tingled throughout both Eugene's and Viola's bodies, as they stayed as still church mice. It would have been hard to decipher who was more shocked by Viola's actions – her or Eugene.

The action just seemed so natural to Viola, that she hadn't given it a second thought.

Both of their heart rates doubled in pace, as they heard footsteps approaching on the concrete sidewalk.

"What the hell," Guarnere exclaimed feeling baffled, as he stood at the edge of the last square of concrete. "Where the hell did they go?"

"Probably back to the base like I've been saying for the past half an hour, Bill," Toye responded brashly. He was not happy to feel blisters forming on the back of his ankles, thanks to the stiff leather of his dress shoes, rubbing holes through his ridiculously thin socks.

"Yeah Bill, I'm sure they are just working out whatever happened between them," Hoobler added in, with a hint of sarcastic suggestion.

Bill's head snapped sharply to the left to where Hoobler was standing. He felt his blood pressure skyrocket as he yelled, "the fuck do you mean by that? Are you suggesting my sister is some sort of flusy?"

Hoobler took a step backward out of shock. In an attempt to correct his his error, he immediately twisted around his words, "I mean nothing of that sort! All I was saying is that Joe's probably right. I'm sure Roe is back in barracks covering under his bunk, while your sister is probably finding something to change into that isn't soaked in beer!"

After taking a moment to consider what the men were saying, Guarnere decided that they were probably right. After walking down almost every street in Toccoa with no success, it was time to pack it in.

"I guess so. Hell, Vi probably just followed that Cajun out of the bar, just so she could punch him in the face," Bill retorted, followed by his characteristic devilish laugh.

"Let's just go back with the fella's and have a beer," Toye sighed, feeling relived that Bill had finally come to his senses.

"Amen!" Hoobler delightfully shouted.

* * *

Eugene and Viola, waited until the sound of the three men's voices and footsteps, had vanished for about five minutes. Neither of them wanted to risk emerging prematurely and getting caught, seeing as that the conclusion Bill, Toye, and Hoobler would come to; would send both Viola and Eugene past the point of mortification. Not to mention the fact that Bill would murder Eugene like he had described just minutes before… that is, if he didn't keel over from a brain aneurism first.

Eugene was somewhat disappointed when Viola stood up, and signalled to him that the coast was clear. It was an understatement to say that he was enjoying being huddled so close to Viola.

As he followed Viola out of the brush, he was overcome with fright and confusion about what was going to happen next. He had thought that Viola had pursued him to tell him how much of a clumsy, pathetic, oaf he was. Her protecting him from her brother was the last thing he had expected.

Once they reached the sidewalk, they both stopped walking and stared at one another. Both felt equally unsure of how to act, or what to say next.

"Uh, so I guess I should probably go track down Bill to show him that I'm okay, before I head back to the base. Otherwise I'm afraid he'll go on some sort of tirade. " Viola was the first one to overcome the jitters and speak up. Listening to her shaky voice, she wished like hell that she could always feel as confident as she did while being a nurse. Life would be so much easier that way…

The way Viola's postured crumpled after she had spoken, awoke the odd feeling of confidence Eugene felt about a week ago, when he asked if Viola would like to share a smoke with him.

"So, would you want to hitch a ride back to the base with me after you see your brother?"

* * *

At this very moment, I realise that my face probably resembles some ridiculously awestruck, cartoon character. The last thing I would have expected was for Eugene to ask me if I'd spend more time with him, right after my brother almost beat the living daylights out of him.

A huge chunk of me wants to energetically scream, "_No shit I want to!"_

Although, my internal logic kicks into high gear, and reminds me that the circumstances of tonight –combined with my undecided emotions towards Gene – are most likely a recipe for disaster.

Taken completely off guard, I begin to stumble on my words as I attempt to vocalize my thoughts, "Uh, well, I don't really know. I don't think – I mean Bill wouldn't"

"That's okay I understand," Eugene hastily interjects, clearly regretting the suggestion.

His cheeks are burning bright red as he spins around on his heels and begins to jog away from me, once more.

"Gene, wait!" I holler out, feeling like a piece of crap. I want my feet to start moving and follow him, but for some ungodly reason; my legs remain frozen in place.

Before Eugene rounds the corner so that he is one street away from the street that we are on, I see him pause briefly to look over his shoulder, in my direction. It's too bad that the street lighting is so shitty, that I can't see whatever expression is on his face.

"Well fuck me," I mutter to myself after he disappears out of sight.

I then cross my arms across my chest, and begin to slowly stagger down the sidewalk in the direction of the main area of Toccoa. It feels like somebody has sucker punched me in the gut.

What is so wrong with me, that I can't even utter a sentence that isn't pure gibberish when attractive men like Eugene, talk to me about anything except work?

That stupid quirk is probably the only reason I had a boyfriend back in, Chicago. If Carter wouldn't have been on staff at the hospital, there'd be no chance in hell we'd have ever gotten together. Not like that would have been a bad thing, knowing what I know now…

Fretting over my abnormal behaviours regarding the opposite sex, has apparently made me oblivious to my surroundings. I unexpectedly find myself back in heart of Main Street, which is swarming with double the servicemen and women; as compared to when I fled after Eugene.

As much I was do not want to go back to the tavern and have to face the inevitable stares, and bombardment of inquires as to where I went – I know that I must. Otherwise the next time I see Bill, I'll be on the receiving end of a chewing out that'll span on until I'm fifty years old!

As the swinging wooden sign above the tavern entrance creeps closer into focus; my pulse begins to quicken and palms become uncomfortably clammy. I begin to question if I actually have the strength to walk back into that damn bar.

I thought I did… but maybe I am more of a chicken than I'd like to admit.

Despite the fact that I don't really believe in God, I find myself silently praying that I'll be able to catch a break tonight, and won't have to face Bill and his friends again.

Within a matter of seconds, I find that my legs have frozen yet again, so that I am standing one in front of the tavern door. I have my right hand wrapped around the brass handle of the wooden door, trying to convince myself to step over the threshold into misery; when a cheery voice booms out from down the sidewalk.

"Viola, wait up for us!" Sure enough, it is Mabel with that Luz fellow in tow.

It doesn't really shock me at all to see that one of Luz's arms is casually wrapped around Mabel's waist. When I saw her making eyes at him earlier in the night, I knew that she'd be swinging in his direction. For some reason though, the sight of Mabel and Luz together, amplifies the rotten feeling I have about how Eugene and I parted earlier. He looked so sad that I just wanted to run up and hug him.

Despite my disposition, I do feel relieved that now I can put off facing Bill for at least a few more hours. Before I can begin to tell Mabel the the message I want her to give to Bill; she interrupts by letting out an overly dramatic, astonished gasp.

"What on Earth happened to you?" Mabel gawks as she looks over my dishevelled appearance from head to toe.

Luz lets out an amused chuckle as he too, examines my appearance, "what'd ya' do – fall into a puddle or something?"

"No!" I reply sharply. "Look, are you two heading back in there?" I ask Mabel while gesturing to the tavern beside us with a tilt of my head.

"Yeah… aren't you?" Mabel drawls, while looking at me like I am crazy.

There are so many rebuttals I could give her right now, but I know that sarcasm with only stall my get away. So, I explain, "Just tell Bill to stop frothing at the mouth, and enjoy the rest of night. He doesn't need to send out any search parties or anything like that! I'm heading back to camp now, so _goodnight._"

Having said my piece, I start powerwalking past them, and toward the direction of the assembly area where a handful of soldiers are gathering while they wait for the base buses to return. Mabel and Luz call out after me, wanting me to come back and explain what I mean; but I just keep on walking.

I am far too mentally exhausted to have to reiterate the entire, embarrassing debacle. Socialization _way_ overrated.

* * *

It's amazing how much a hot cup of coffee, a shower, a few cigarettes, and a freshly laundered nightgown, can improve my mood. Even though Eugene isn't completely gone from my mind; at least I don't feel like I want to jump in front of a moving jeep anymore.

I tried to read a book for a bit but just couldn't seem to focus. The look of crushing defeat on Eugene's face after I turned down his offer kept popping into my mind.

For the past two hours, I've been lying on my cot replaying every little detail of all of my encounters and interactions I've had with Eugene. I was so busy being flustered and embarrassed that I didn't realize Eugene, was also going through the same experience I was. I now understand why he was acting so irrational, when most of the time he is a very level-headed person.

Mabel is right… Eugene Roe _does have_ a crush on me. Even though I've only know the man for a matter of weeks – I think that I am enough of an introvert, to recognize when somebody else is natured like myself.

Getting along with other people isn't my forte, but with Eugene it's so easy. He isn't pompous, overly obnoxious, or crude. He isn't some snobby intellectual, nor is he a brutish blockhead.

Eugene is just Eugene.

Suddenly hits me like a freight train – once again, Mabel completely right. I'm just as infatuated with Eugene, as he is with me.

It's not just that he _fantastic_ body; he also has an equally great personality to match.

"Holy shit!" I cry out as I spring to my feet. My brief stint of feeling halfway collected goes flying out the window, like it got swept up by a Kansas tornado.

Freaking out, I begin to vocalize my thoughts and talk to myself a mile a minute, "What the hell are you thinking, Viola Susanna Guarnere? You can't fall for this guy! In a few months' time, he is going to ship out of here along with rest of the 506th, and you'll never see him again. Besides, you are responsible for his medical education. Mixing in our personal feelings in with our duty would only compromise his education. Also, let's not forget that Braxton would probably break the record for processing the quickest dishonorable discharge, of all time – in any branch of the U.S. military! No Viola… you and Eugene are just a disaster waiting to happen. This is wartime. You are a commissioned nurse for the United State military. Moreover, you are one of the best damn nurses out there; you'd be doing yourself disservice if you'd let yourself get all caught up in admiring a man."

My ranting instantly ceases, when I hear a loud rabble of voices outside approaching the tent. I scurry to the tent door and crack it open just enough, so that I can get a peek of who it is. My breath hitches when I see that it Bill, Mabel, and Luz returning from their night on the town.

Trying to act like I am a complete sane and collected, I dash over to my cot and pick up the copy of _Moby Dick, _which I had tossed under there a few hours ago, lay down and pretend that I am entranced in the classic novel.

* * *

"And then that's when the farmer said, _'no sir, that g-g-gentleman was actually my wife!' _" Luz beamed like a child as he delivered the punchline of his joke.

Even though the joke was awful – Mabel couldn't help but to burst out in hysterical laughter. Her forth scotch and soda had made her pretty goofy.

"Ah, learn some better jokes already, ya' dumb Mick," Bill sarcastically scoffed, as he dismissed Luz's foolishness with a wave of his hand.

Luz gestured with his hands toward Mabel, whom is standing between the two of them bent over, laughing so hard that she is crying. "Mabel here thinks it's a good joke," Luz defended himself.

Luz's comment intensified Mabel's laughter. She took a few seconds to try and calm herself down before saying, "Oh god no! That's the worst joke I think I have ever heard in my twenty-five years of being alive!"

Bill too began to laugh, not expecting Mabel's comment.

Even though his drunken attempt at witticism failed, Luz couldn't help but to laugh alongside them – not at his failure – but at how silly Mabel was acting. Over the course of the night, he her to be rather attractive.

A few moments later, after the trio had stopped laughing and had caught their breath; Bill spoke up. "Hey you guys mind waiting out here for a few minutes. There's something I need to talk about with,Vi."

"Sure," Mabel replied, "I'll just stay out here with Joker McJokington!"

She and Luz then broke out into another fit of laughter.

"Aye," Bill remarked to himself while rolling his eyes. He was considerably more sober than the other two, and was thankful for it. He walked the ten feet gap from where Luz and Mabel were standing, to the door of Viola's tent and knocked assertively. "Open up Vi."

"Come in, Bill." Viola hollered out.

When Bill stepped inside the tent, he wasn't surprised to find Viola curled up in bed with a book in one hand, and a cup some steaming liquid in the other. "You look cozy," he remarked as he walked up to the head of Viola's cot.

Viola let out a groan as she set the book down on her chest, "I take it you're here lecture me with some about some brotherly rhetoric about the event in the tavern, earlier this evening," Viola's tone quite formal sounding.

Bill couldn't help but to chuckle – Viola did know him well. Also, leave it to her to discuss a matter such as being publicly humiliated like she was dictating a formal report. As amusing as it was, he had figured out several years ago that talking her had just swallowed a thesaurus, was simply a defense mechanism.

"You guessed right."

"Fine," Viola huffed in an irritated manner, as she set the book beside her mug on the dresser, and sat up so that her legs were crossed, and hanging over the edge of the cot.

Bill sat down beside her and took a moment to think about how to ease into the discussion. However, he knew that Viola would be agitated with him one way or another, so he just decided to jump right in, "I hope you ran after that Cajun, just so you could knock him a good one across the jaw."

"I certainly did not!" Viola gaped feeling completely outraged by the notion. "I am not some barbaric oaf like yourself, whose only way of resolving a conflict is with a demonstration of physical strength."

"Well where did you go then? Because Luz and Mabel said you ran into them on the street forty-five minutes after that Cajun drenched you in beer!"

Viola gritted her teeth and prayed that that was the only thing Mabel shared with Bill during her absence. "When did she tell you this?"

"On the bus ride back to here."

"Well there you go, Bill. She probably had no idea what she was talking about. I could hear you inebriates laughing several yards before you stopped to razz, Luz. I'd have you know that I pursued Eugene, because I noticed that there was a small laceration on his forehead. Once I finally caught up to him, I informed him that he should get it looked after rather quickly if he wanted to prevent scarring. I then assured him that I wasn't physically harmed by the mishap with the alcohol. Also, I expressed to him that I understood him running into me, was completely unintentional and that I hope he doesn't fret over it for an extended interval." Viola lied through her teeth. On the inside, she was praising the high heavens for such an easy out.

Bill leered at Viola, trying to decipher whether or not she was shovelling him a load of manure.

Viola recognized the expression on her brother's face and began to panic slightly. She sprung to her feet and pointed a finger at him, the way she would when she had to scold him as a child for being bad. "Don't you give that look, William Guarnere – why on Earth would I lie to you? We nurses are not supposed to have members of the opposite sex in our quarters; so I am going cut this short because I know what you are going to ask. Eugene is one of my students," Bill opened his mouth to speak, but Viola quickly shushed him by raising her voice, "_however – _we are nothing more than mere acquaintances. Since we are on the subject, I also want to address the fact that I do know what you did to that man who insulted me outside of the diner on our first outing. Let me tell you this Bill; while we are assigned to the same post I will not tolerate you acting like some raging buffoon, every time a solider addresses me in a fashion that you do not agree with. Furthermore, I do not _ever_ want to hear of you harassing Eugene Roe, in way, shape, or form. Is that understood William?"

Bill twitched his mouth from side to side. Viola hadn't griped at him like that since was thirteen years old, and thought it'd be a great joke to stuff a dead mouse into her pillow case.

Even though he knew that he wouldn't stop harassing Eugene; Bill knew from experience that the lecture would be over a hell of a lot faster if he just nodded and agreed.

"Alright," Bill said as he stood up and pulled Viola into a tight hug, "I believe you and promise not to harass that Cajun – even though it'd be very satisfying."

Viola rolled her eyes and playfully shoved Bill away from her. "I'm sure it would be. Now take your friend back to your barracks, before my C.O. suddenly appears out of nowhere in the way she always does, and we all get busted for fraternization!"

Bill then proceeded to exit the tent with a smile on his face. Looking over his shoulder he asked, "Is she seriously that bad?"

"I wouldn't be one bit surprised if she has periscopes installed in all of our tents, just so she can observe us sleeping," Viola replied dryly, as she followed him out of the tent.

"Hah!" Bill chortled as slapped his knee in amusement.

"Heya Bill, let me ask ya' this – how much chuck, would a chunkenwood nuck, if a woodchuck, could nuck wood?" Luz drunkenly greeted him, not realizing that he had gotten the tongue twister horrendously wrong.

In a brief moment of clarity, Mabel realized Luz's mistake and once again burst into a fit of giggles. "You know what Georgie?"

"What?"

"I th-tink' you're drunk!" Mabel trumpeted gleefully.

"S-so er' you, Mabel the magnif-f-ficent!" Luz said in tone that was anything but serious, which made the two of them laugh to the point where tears where running down their cheeks.

Bill and Viola stood side by side with identical expression of grief on their faces. Getting those two to go to sleep was going to be quite a challenge.

"You take yours, and I'll take mine," Viola said to Bill, as she walked up to Mabel looped her arm under Mabel's left.

"Right." Bill replied to Viola, as he looked at Luz with distain.

"Oh! I think we're s-s-supposed to say bye-bye now, Georgie!" Mabel exclaimed when Viola linked up to her.

Stumbling over his own feet to the side slightly, Luz extended his left hand outward for Mabel to shake. Once Mabel accepted the gesture and entwined her right hand with his; Luz proudly proclaimed, "Mabel F-Fields.

"Yes?" Mabel asked with intrigue.

"Yer' a certifiable lunatic, and I hope to s-s-see you soon."

Giggling, Mabel shook his hand and replied, "Same goes for you too!"

"Oh brother," Bill blurted out, knowing that he would be lucky if Luz wouldn't pass out before they completed the lengthy trek back to Easy's barracks.

"Let's pour some coffee down you and get you to bed, Mabel. You are going to be grouchy tomorrow with the hangover you are going to have," Viola said with hint of indignation as she began lead Mabel toward the direction of their tent.

Heading in the opposite direction with Luz practically hanging off of his shoulder; Bill called out behind him, "Night Vi. Good luck her!"

Right before she opened the tent door, Viola answered back, "Night and good luck with yours too!"

* * *

As tired as Viola felt, sleep just couldn't come to her. It was three am, and Viola had only gotten Mabel to bed about a half an hour ago. She knew that she would have to make a decision about Eugene, come Monday morning.

If she decided to stop being as friendly as she was with him, she would possibly lose out on the opportunity to have a real good friend. Or, she could continue to get to know him better and if the opportunity presented itself – see what it'd be like to be more than just friends and possibly get kicked out of the Nursing Corps, in the process.

The way Viola saw it was that – she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

* * *

**A/N: Hi there. Yeah so I know it has been over three months since I've update this fic last. I had a bad case of writer block with this chapter, for some reason. I think I was because I wanted to make sure I was 100% happy with how the events played out. **

**I was originally going to make this chapter conclude with Viola making her decision, but I decided that it would be best to end it here. I am curious what you guys think she is going to do? Close herself off from Gene; or will they continue to develop their relationship with Bill hovering over them so closely?**

**Anyways, hopefully it won't be such a long interval between now and my next update! **

**Thanks to everyone for your lovely reviews on the last chapter: **

**TaliVarda100706: ****I was pleased to hear that you enjoy my fic so much, and that you like how Gene &amp; Viola run into one another. (It made me more happy than it probably should have when I wrote that part…) And yes, I plan to read Winter's book once summer comes around! **

**Cchickki:**** I hope that Bill's reaction didn't disappoint you! And even though there wasn't any Malarkey or Muck in this chapter; I hope you appreciated Luz and Mabel. **

**Absentees****: Thanks for your review. I am glad my characterization in correct thus far, and that my story seems unique to you. As for the errors, my Beta quit on me so the last chapter and this one are editing only by myself. Once my life slows down, I'll find another Beta as soon as I can! **

**Prinzessin Mia****: Thank you for yet another wonderful review! I am sorry that I made you wait so long for this chapter! O_o And yes all of those books I mentioned before are totally worth the read! I enjoyed Ambrose's book, but I found that the personal memoirs were far more consistent in accuracy and more informational.**

**In closing I'd like to thank all of the people who had favorite/followed as well. Glad to know people are enjoying my little fic. **

**Until next time, cheers! **


	11. IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**:

**Hi there my lovely readers. I am sorry to disappoint you with no update, but I just want to explain a few things in regards to this story. **

**I have been struggling with a bad bout of depression lately, and even though I want to write this story so much; I just cannot find the motivation. Last week I finally found the inspiration to write – which turned out to be my M*A*S*H story. Writing that story has really helped with my spirits immensely. Therefore, ****I have made the decision to only focus on that story for a while.**

** I've also started a new job and have been buried in homework lately. Also, I have been working with a beta reader to clean up my 10 chapters so far, which is taking a while because we both have hectic schedules. **

**Do no fear though – ****I will not abandon this story!**

**Since I will have three free months of absolutely no responsibilities before I move away for college starting in June – I will have all the time in the world to write this fic! **

**Expect this me to take up this story again around the end of June/beginning of July.**

**Thank you for supporting my story, and understanding why I am putting it on hiatus. **

**Sincerely,**

**_MASHlover23_**


	12. Third Time's the Charm - Part 3

Saturday Night

"Stupid – Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Eugene grumbled out loud to himself, as he ascended the steps to the front entrance of the camp hospital.

He had said several stupid things and had embarrassed himself in front of the opposite sex countless times over the years. However, what happened with Viola at the tavern and then afterward when they came out of hiding – now, that _definitely _took the cake_._

After he had fled the scene, he walked over for four blocks so that he was as far away from Viola as he could be without actually leaving the borders of Toccoa. The street he walked down to, to get back to the business center of the town; was eight blocks long and had absolutely no street lamps. This, of course, meant that Eugene was tripping over curves, running into hedgerows, and trampling residence's flower gardens. Thanks to some citizens grossly untrimmed rose bush, he managed to bang up both his knees and get a bunch of thorns stuck in his left arm.

It really was a wonder that he'd made it back to Main Street at all…

Once he arrived at the Post Office, he waited for the next bus to pull up that would shuttle the soldiers back to the base. He had to stand around for an hour and a half because he had missed the latest bus by only three minutes. This, of course, ticked him off even more. Eugene took the time, though, to pull out as many of the thorns as he could get with just his bare hands. The remaining ones would have to be pulled out by whatever nurse that was going to stitch up his forehead.

He was very lucky that during his wait, as well as the ride back, he did not run into a single member of Easy Company. Eugene would probably blow his cork if he did, due to the inevitable taunting which he would receive. He wanted to put off that torment for as long as possible.

Eugene already knew that after Sunday night after curfew had past – as well as Monday morning breakfast – was going to be sheer hell.

Heck, it'd be a miracle if he would actually make it to Monday morning! He realized that he was walking on egg shells with Guarnere before; but after the foolishness of the night Eugene had fallen through into the lion's den.

After Eugene had disembarked the bus, he headed straight for the hospital. When Eugene walked into the ward, he was pleased to find that only one of the beds was occupied and that its occupant was unconscious.

"Hello?" he called out timidly while he walked down the aisle between the beds, toward the back where the nurse's duty desk was.

After he waited a few seconds and hearing no reply; he looked around the room and did not see a nurse or orderly anywhere.

Suddenly, Eugene saw Captain Braxton emerged from the supply room.

He didn't know much about the head nurse, except what Viola had told him. Overall, Braxton seemed like an overly frigid woman who was a stickler for regulations – she was probably just as bad as Colonel Strayer and Lieutenant Sobel.

Braxton narrowed her eyes at the sight of Eugene's bloody forehead and swollen and promptly ordered, "Sit down on that bunk closest to the desk. I'll be right back with a suture pack, some alcohol, and bandages."

"Yes Ma'am,"

It took her about a minute to re-emerge from the supply room with the necessary items. After she had pulled up a surgical trolley and placed the items on it; she pulled up a chair for herself and sat down.

"So, how did you manage to rough yourself up so much? I do hope it wasn't brawling."

"No Ma'am," Gene paused to hiss out in pain when Braxton dabbed a cotton puff soaked in alcohol on his cut, "I can assure you it wasn't anything of the sort."

"I expect that you are telling me the truth."

"Believe me Ma'am – I am," Eugene assured her, with a hint of embarrassment evident in his voice.

"Now I am just going to give you a bit of a local anesthetic," Braxton told Eugene as she drew some serum out a vile, with a needle and syringe.

Eugene flinched slightly as she injected him with the local. After a few moments, he began to feel the numbing effect of the medication.

"You are going to feel a dull pinching and pulling sensation while I suture up your forehead," Braxton warned Eugene before she went to work.

Eugene would have much preferred for there to be no discourse between him and Braxton – however, she had a different idea.

"I recognize your face. You're one of the men training to be a combat medic – aren't you?"

"That's correct Ma'am."

"And just how do you like your medical education, thus far?"

Eugene cringed internally at the blatant frigidness in Captain Braxton's tone. It reminded Eugene of his insufferable Aunt Delphine.

For one week every summer, he along with the rest of his siblings were still quite young, they would be sent away Baton Rouge to stay with Delphine. The woman was about as pleasant as a piece of stale bread. To say that Delphine was unexciting was an understatement. Eugene never saw her crack a smile, laugh, or utter a compliment to anyone… _ever_.

Delphine married at the age of sixteen, to a fifty-six-year-old oil baron named Ernest Lanoux. Four years into their marriage, Ernest passed away of gout related complications. With his passing, Delphine inherited all of his money. The only thing she ever did with her wealth was donate it to the Catholic Church on regular intervals.

Most of the time, she would sit in her parlor or sunroom and either, do embroidery, crochet, or read a book. Although, her favorite pastime was the popular Victorian tradition of making shapes and designs out of human hair and then pressing it under a glass frame once finished. The walls of her house were cluttered with the creepy creations.

Any activity involving any sort of noise was strictly off limits while Eugene and his siblings were visiting. Delphine hated unnecessary noise so much that she didn't even own a radio or a phonograph. She would always say that much was the devil's creation. The woman honestly believed she was living in the 1860's.

"I am enjoying it very much, Ma'am," Eugene responded in the same calculated, indifferent manner he used to use when speaking to his Aunt.

Out of the corner of his eye, Eugene saw Braxton raise her eyebrows at his statement. His palms became sweaty while he wondered what was running through the head nurse's mind.

A few dreadful moments later she finally replied to his comment, "Yes well I suppose enjoying your _mandatory training_ is good thing. I see that I should have been clearer, as to the nature of my inquiry. What I was wondering, is if you feel that Lieutenant Guarnere is providing you with an adequate education?"

Eugene's eyes widened at the mention of Viola's name. For a brief interval, he had actually managed to forget about his crippling mortification from earlier in the night.

Why was the Captain asking him, about Viola? Was she simply wondering as her commanding officer? Or did Braxton somehow know that he and Viola were good acquaintances? He knew that Viola had said more than once about how Braxton always seemed to pop out of nowhere, and seemed to know about everything that happened under her command.

He had to choose his vocabulary very carefully. Otherwise, he knew that his crappy night was going to get a whole lot worse.

"Viola –" Eugene face suddenly felt like it was on fire, due to the amount of blood that had just rushed to his cheeks. He couldn't believe that he had actually just called Viola by her first name in front of her C.O. He scrambled quickly to correct his error, "I mean, _Lieutenant Guarnere_'s instruction of the class is more than satisfactory. The ways she explains things, makes it very easy to understand. I have learned quite a lot so far."

Eugene was surprised by how easily the lies rolled off of his tongue. The truth was that he was so busy admiring Viola, that he hadn't even a sliver of attention to the content of her lectures. He knew how bad that was. He truly tried to pay attention to what she was teaching. But at the end of the day; his hormones had gotten the better of him, causing his ability to concentrate on anything, to go flying out the window.

During the written portion of the test that had to the previous day; Eugene had a bit of a panic attack. All of the questions were multiple-choice, but Eugene had a hard time picking an answer that seemed right to him.

Education wasn't considered too important in the culture he grew up in, living on the Bayou. Receiving an education beyond basic literacy and arithmetic skills was almost unheard of.

After he had completed the sixth grade, Eugene dropped out of school so that he could go to work to help support his family. He worked on shrimp boats, as well in several other manual labour occupations until he enlisted in the Airborne. Education was simply never a priority in Eugene's mind; until the present situation he found himself in, that is.

"Well, that's very good to hear. Now then, I am just about finished here," Braxton paused as she picked up a pair of scissors and snipped off the leftover end of the suture, "All you need is a dressing, and those thorns extracted and then you are free to go for the night, young man."

"Yes Ma'am."

Thankfully the rest of the time that the Captain was treating Eugene; Braxton didn't attempt to make any other attempts at small talk.

After Braxton had finished everything; Eugene told her, "Thank you for treating me Ma'am."

What happened next surprised Eugene immensely – Braxton proceeded to flash him a quick, yet sincere, smile. And what was even more shocking to him? Her face didn't crack into a million pieces.

* * *

As Eugene found his way back to Easy Company's barrack's, he thought that his night couldn't possibly get any worse. That was of course until he had the misfortune of walking past Lieutenant Sobel.

The second Sobel saw the dressing on Eugene's head; he snapped his head over his left shoulder and spun his body around to face the direction where Eugene was heading in.

"Halt right there, Roe!"

Eugene muttered a string of French curses under his breath, as he slowly turned around to stand at attention.

After the customary routine of saluting was out of the way, Sobel crossed his hands behind his back and leaned forward slightly so that their noses were almost touching. He maintained direct eye with Eugene and began to interrogate him, "Explain to me how you received that wound on your forehead, Roe."

"I was walking down a dark street in town, tripped over a street curb, and few into a rose bush," Eugene replied through gritted teeth. At this point he wasn't even embarrassed anymore. He was just growing increasingly agitated by the second.

"Is that the true story – or were you really engaged in a physical fight with another man?" Sobel scanned his eyes and facial features for any sign of him lying.

"It really is the true story, _Sir_," Eugene responded rather indignantly.

Sobel immediately took a step backward, puffed out his chest, straightened his posture, and flared his nostrils in offense, at Eugene's tone.

"The tone of your voice is far from what it should be when addressing your Commanding Officer, Corporal! Just for that your weekend passes are revoked for one month, as well as you will be on latrine duty, every day, for five weeks. Is that _understood_?"

"Yes Sir!" Eugene answered in a more respectful tone than before. He really didn't want to run the risk of receiving and further punishment.

Sobel eyed Eugene up and down with a repulsed look on his face, before saying, "Dismissed."

Eugene threw his right hand up in a salute, before turning and fleeing for his billet.

When he stepped in the Easy Company barrack that he was assigned to, he was relieved to see that it was one-hundred percent empty; except for Private Smith, who was fast asleep on the opposite end of where his bunk was.

He was too tired and pissed off to bother with showering at the moment. So, he quickly stripped his soiled Class A's, changed into a fresh pair of skivvies and went to sleep.

* * *

Sunday Morning

Eugene awoke early Sunday morning – sometime between four and five in the morning.

The incident about Viola, being thrown out of the Airborne, and having the shit kicked out of him by Bill; all plagued his dreams. After waking up in a cold sweat, and realizing that he still stunk that draft beer – the first thing Eugene did was throw on his army issue bathrobe and shower shoes, before heading for the showers.

He was pleased to find that nobody else was in Easy Company's showers. He figured those who returned to the base last night, were all too hungover to be up at such an early hour anyways.

As Eugene stripped down to his birthday suit, he was praying that there would be hot water for once. After carefully removing the dressing on his head; he sighed with content relief when he turned on the tap and hot pellets of hydration danced over his skin. Gene stood there with his eyes closed, and let the pleasant warmth from the water loosen up his tense muscles. His mind fell into a sort of meditative trance, so, it surprised the hell out of him when he finally opened his eyes to see that Guarnere was standing in the stall next to his.

Gene's body jolted in surprise, causing him to lose his footing and almost fall on his butt. Thankfully, his strong lower body strength counteracted the slipperiness of the floor.

"Easy there, Roe," Bill chuckled sarcastically as he began to lather himself up with a bar of soap. "You've seen Guarnere's ole' snake unsheathed before."

Eugene shot him such an unimpressed glare that if looks could kill – Bill would have been killed instantly. Bill in turn let out a booming laugh at Eugene's response... this was going to be too much fun.

"Say uh, now that we're alone here, let me ask you this," Bill kept on addressing Eugene; whom was now trying to wash his body and hair as fast as he could to escape Guarnere. "Have you been attempting to convince my sister to wind up in the old sack race with you?"

"No, I have not!" Eugene yelled in outrage that Guarnere would even insinuate such a notion. He stopped lathering and pointed an angry finger at the Philly native, "You have no right to march in here and accuse me of such a thing."

"Like hell I do! Viola is my sister, in case you have forgotten. Explain to me why she cared enough about your pathetic hide to chase you, after you purposely humiliated her in a room full people."

Right then, Malarkey and Muck stepped into the room, taken aback by the sight of Eugene and Bill are screaming at each other, while butt naked, and covered in suds. This was especially odd at five on a Sunday morning. They could help but to stand there in awe at the bizarre spectacle.

"Do you really think for one second that I would embarrass Viola, in front a bunch of half-drunk soldiers that she will most likely have to treat in the future?" Eugene shot back, becoming angrier by the second.

"How the fuck do I know? I just met you only a few weeks ago, you fucking Cajun!" Bill growled. He wished that they were having this conversation any place else other than the shower, so that he clock Eugene upside the head and finish the job that he was certain Viola started.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Guarnere! And the next time you accuse me of taking advantage of your sister – let's try to do it when we are both not in the shower and are wearing at least a pair of skivvies!" Roe retorted as he stepped back into the stream of water and quickly rinsed himself off.

Bill too finally stepped back underneath his shower head and began to rinse himself off. In the process he hurled the comeback, "Even then, I'd still be a bigger man than you – and in more ways than one!"

Eugene turned off his faucet, grabbed his shower kit, dried himself off in a hurried manner, and threw on his robe. Just before he headed for the door, he turned around and informed Bill about one last thing, "And I'm only half Cajun!"

"Whatever you say you French talking, hick!"

After the door slammed shut, Bill turned off his own shower and began to dry himself off. He jumped in fright when he saw out his peripherals that Muck and Malarkey were using the faucets two, and three to the left of him.

"Jesus Christ! When the hell did you guys walk in?" Bill exclaimed in fright. Directly after he said that; his eyes widened at the realization that they walked in sometime during Eugene's and his argument. "How much of that did you guys hear?"

Malarkey and Muck looked at each other, shrugged and each gave their own responses.

"Just something about the Doc sleeping with your sister," Muck replied casually, not to interest in the politics of it. He was far too hungover to care, anyways.

"Yeah that, and how you'd always be the bigger man – even out of a stream of water." Malarkey added on before beginning to wash his hair.

"Whatever," Bill dismissed their jocularity with a wave of his hand. "Neither of you two smartasses repeat anything you heard in here, understand? Otherwise," he shook a fist into the air for emphasis, "that fucking Cajun isn't going to be alone on ole' Gonorrhea's list of people I need to make miserable! My sister doesn't need useless rumours floating around this camp that she is nothing more than a floozy, B-girl!"

"We got it, Bill," Malarkey swiftly agreed, so that Bill could leave already.

"Yeah, your message is crystal clear – mum's the word," Muck also assured.

"Good," Bill nodded in satisfaction. "I'm going to go see my sister before the three of us and the other saps Winters, selected for latrine duty have to scrub fucking toilet seats."

After that, Bill finally left leaving the two men alone.

The men looked at each other, shook their heads in wonderment, and continued on with their showers in silence. While they were drying off, they began to converse once more.

"You know Malark, even if Gonorrhea didn't threaten to flatten us into pancakes – I still don't think I'd fink about whatever that was we witnessed." Muck voiced his opinion.

"I agree with you there, buddy. That had to have been just about the weirdest thing I've witnessed since I joined the Airborne, so far." Malarkey agreed wholeheartedly. After taking a moment to think, he posed the question, "Hey – if the Doc and Guarnere's sister are really a thing – spectacles like that might become more common place around here."

Muck shook his head, noting that his friend had a valid point. "Just as long as it doesn't happen in the shower again."

"Yeah, a man's shower should be a place of peace!"

"Amen to that Malark… amen to that."

* * *

After leaving the showers, Bill returned to his barrack to change into a clean uniform before making the trek across the camp to Viola's tent. He knew that he'd probably end up waking her and her roommate up, but that really didn't matter at the moment.

He needed to make sure that his sister was okay, and that her story last night about what happened with Eugene was a fib to cover up an uglier truth.

When he arrived at her tent, he looked around to make sure that nobody saw him disturbing a tent full of nurses in the wee hours of the morning.

That was definitely a headache that he didn't need.

Seeing that there wasn't a soul around, he tapped lightly on the door three times in a row. He wasn't surprised to hear Viola curse him out, as she shuffled towards the door.

When she opened the door, Bill was surprised however to see that she was in a bathrobe, shower shoes, and had her hair twisted up into a dampened towel.

"Bill?" Viola gaped. He was the last person she expected to at such an early hour.

"Can I come inside?" Bill asked politely.

"Sure," Viola agreed tentatively. "Why are you here at 5:20 in the morning? I thought you'd be sleeping one off just, like sleeping beauty over there." Viola pointed over her shoulder with her thumb at Mabel.

"We ain't going to wake her up – are we?" Bill asked, remembering how drunk she and Luz was only a mere four hours ago.

"No, it's impossible – watch," Viola replied before she grabbed the tin coffee pot sitting on the stove the middle of the tent and dropping it onto the ground.

Mabel didn't stir even one bit. If such a loud noise couldn't wake her up – nothing could.

Bill laughed softly in amusement. He then pointed to the empty coffee pot that was resting beside Viola's foot and said, "You'd better be careful with doing that. Last time you sprained your toe – remember?"

"You don't need to remind me," Viola snapped in a very dry tone while she shot him an unimpressed look.

"Hey look, I know we had this discussion last night but I need to be one-hundred percent sure that Roe didn't try anything funny with you at all," Bill explained his presence in a calm tone.

Viola tilted her head back in shock. She motioned to the door with her hand and exclaimed, "No, Bill! We just went through this, only four hours ago. Eugene and I have only shared smokes once and while. He's my student and I am his instructor."

"Yeah, but what about the injury he has to his tuckus. I just saw it in the shower a few minutes ago. It looks suspiciously like the work of your fists." Bill fished for more details.

He knew that he couldn't bring up his argument in the shower because he'd get in dutch with Viola. She had warned him multiple times before not to hassle Eugene.

"Trust me, if I would have clocked him one the face he'd look a hell of a lot worse than he does."

Bill raised an eyebrow at her, before closing the gap between them and placed his hands on her shoulders. He looked directly into her eyes as he asked one last time for confirmation, "On the level, Vi?"

"On the level, Bill," Viola said in a very confident and clear tone.

"Alright," Bill sighed in relief, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace. Viola wrapped her arms around his abdomen in return and rested her head on one of his broad shoulders.

"You know I ask you things like this because you're my big' Sis and that I love you - right?" Bill murmured softly into Viola's ear.

"I know Bill. And I love you too."

* * *

"God dammit, there's still four more left," I curse in frustration, as I count the number of exams left to grade from Friday.

My outburst was a bit too loud and consequently woke up Mabel on the other side of the tent. She grumbles some sort of gibberish and slowly rolls over from her back onto her side. Her eyes shoot open, when what I assume is her realizing the doozy of a hangover that is wreaking havoc on her body.

"Good morning, sunshine," I sarcastically drawl, noting the look of pure misery on her face.

Suddenly she grabs her stomach with her left hand, covers her mouth with her right, and runs in a stooped crouch over to the garbage can directly beneath the spot on my cot where I am sitting. Thankfully, both my legs are crossed underneath me, so I am out of the line of fire.

After a few seconds, she finally finishes regurgitating everything she had eaten last night. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and slumps down onto her butt, so that she is supported upward by the dresser between our cots. She pulls her legs close to her chest, props her elbows onto her knees, and cradles her head in her hands.

"Please go get a rifle from supply and shot me in the head," Mabel groans in agony.

My nose involuntarily wrinkles upward in disgust at the vile, metallic odour of Mabel's vomit which is beginning to waft around the tent. I get up, grab the garbage can and place it outside, a few feet away from the door.

"I don't think you've been this hungover since the morning after, our last night at Fort Dix," I say as I walk over to my foot locker. I pop it open and pull out various bottles of pills, a jar of serum and a needle and syringe.

"I don't think I've ever been this hungover in my life," Mabel whines, as she lifts her head up from her hands.

"I don't envy you right now, that's for sure." I can't help but to chuckle at Mabel in her sorry state.

"Oh go jump off of a bridge," Mabel sneers.

"There are no bridges in camp," I can't help to but tease her. "We do have that mock jump tower though, will that do?"

Mabel curls her lip upward in disgust at me, before the brightness of the tent is too much for her to bear and she buries her head back into her hands.

"I hope that I can hear the splatting sound from here, when you hit the ground."

I chuckle slightly as I link on of my arms underneath her and pull her to her feet. I guide her over to my cot, and she willingly takes a seat.

"You're going to wish that you weren't so grumpy with me you see the goodies that I swiped for you from supply."

Mabel's eyes widen slightly when she sees the array of medication laid out on my bed. "What the hell is all of this?"

"Aspirin for you headache and muscle cramps," I dole out the pills as I recite what they are, "magnesium hydroxide and calcium carbonate for you upset nausea and indigestion; and in one second I'm going to pump your arm pull of vitamin B12 to help you get through morning formation which is in a an hour and a half."

Mabel happily accepts and ingests all of the pills, pausing each time to take a sip of water with them. She winces slightly in pain as I inject her right arm with the B12, but her pain quickly subsides a second after I remove the needle from her arm.

"Thanks," she mumbles tiredly. Even though her tone is less than perky – I know that she is grateful on the inside for my help.

"That's what friends are for," I reply as I put the protective plastic cap back on the needle.

Mabel nods weakly in return. She then stands up, walks back over to her side of the tent. After picking out a fresh uniform, panties, and brassiere – she grabs her shower kit and towel hanging from a nail above the head of her bed and proceeds to the door.

Before she pushes the door open, she says, "If I'm not back in twenty minutes, don't bother looking for me – I'll probably be sprawled out on the shower tent floor, dead."

"Alright Mabel," I laugh.

She begins to leave, but stops midway in the doorway and adds on (much to my dismay), "If I don't die, then you are going to tell me everything that happened between you and Gene last night. Your brother explained the entire thing to me last night while I was still relatively sober."

Maybe I should go jump off of the tower after all…

* * *

"Alright Vi, spill the beans. What happened after you chased after him?" Mabel got right to the point.

I look around the half empty Mess Hall to make sure that nobody is eavesdropping. After taking a sip of my coffee, I reply, "Well I caught up to him."

"_And_?"

"We talked."

"About what?" Mabel asks, unimpressed with my ambiguity.

I let deep sigh – she isn't going to settle for anything but the complete truth.

"I just told him that I understood it was an accident, and then I assessed a mid-sized, superficial laceration on his forehead."

Mabel rolls her eyes at me. Apparently my ploy of trying to use as subsinct language as possible in hopes that she won't try to pry further – isn't working.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me!" I huff in return.

"I am rolling my eyes at you Viola Susanna Guarnere, because you always do this to me! You never tell me the full story on any juicy tidbid of gossip, then I bug you obsessively until you get so annoyed that you tell anyways. Your brother said that he, along with a few others, walked down every street in the town and couldn't find you! Where did you go with Eugene?"

Damn it! Mabel has me cornered on this one…

"Fine," I sigh, "when I was in the process of examining Eugene's wound – we heard my brother and his little posse coming down the street. So we ran into the woods and hid behind a large tree until my cretin of brother left."

"Awwww," Mabel squeals, "you didn't want Eugene to get pummelled by your brother."

"Don't patronize me!" I raise my voice at her slightly, finding her gushing over the whole ordeal quite humiliating. The last thing I need is for Mabel to be my personal cheerleader.

"I'm not!" Mabel gasps in playful offense, "See, I was right after all! You do have feeling for him."

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

Now it's my turn to roll my eyes at her. I should probably correct my false statement, or else this childish bantering back and forth between us could go on for ages.

"Maybe just a little bit," I begrudgingly admit through gritted teeth.

"Hah!" Mabel shouts out a little too loudly and points her finger at me. A bunch of heads turn in our direction momentarily; but of course she doesn't notice. She then goes on to gloat further, "I told you so! Wow, I was _sooo_ right about the two of you. Do you think he's ever going to ask you out for a drink? Oh that'd be so great for you, Vi. I the little over I year I've known you – I have never seen you go on a date with somebody."

A growl of frustration escapes my larynx, before I respond, "I highly doubt that Eugene will ever even talk to me, let alone look in my direction, after last night! So the answer is no – Eugene isn't going to be asking me out anytime soon. Besides, officers and enlisted are not supposed to fraternize; let alone a man and a woman in the service. The incident last night was probably for the best, anyways. Our friendship, if you insist of calling it that, was starting to be problematic for Eugene in his own unit! I don't wish Bill's brotherly wrath on any man. Lord knows he has driven away more than one possible suitor, in the day"

Mabel has a devilish smirk plastered across her mug. I can tell she really want to say something, but she knows that if she does that I'll probably blow my lid on her.

"Oh stop smirking at me like that," I scoff. I get up from my seat; grab my tray of half eaten food and say, "Come Sherlock, we're going to be late for this impromptu morning formation if we don't hurry."

"Whatever you say, Juliet."

* * *

"Now, I am sure you are all wondering why I call this emergency morning meeting. Well ladies, I won't let you wonder any longer. From the reports I heard, my nursing staff behaved atrociously on, and off the base last night!" Captain Braxton shouts like a Marine drill Sergeant.

Oh great, even though it's only me, Mabel, and the overly perky one (whose name I still cannot remember for the life of me); we are going to get the brunt end of Braxton's wrath for whatever the other girls did last night which is apparently so deplorable.

"Public inebriation, dancing on tables, destruction of private property, arguing with shop owners to stay open past their posted closing times, and to top it all off – I got a very nasty note in my mailbox this morning from an officer in Baker Company that one of my nurses even threw up all over him at a tavern last night!" Braxton explains herself further.

_What the hell did I all miss last night?_

"I actually quite pleased that it is only you three Lieutenant's on base this morning, because - out of all the negative reports I have been receiving – your names haven't come up at all," Braxton says in a calmer tone of voice. That is of course, until she eyes Mabel standing beside, "Lieutenant Fields, do you need to be excused from my formation so you can go throw up!"

In the corner of my eye, I can see that Mabel's face is devoid of all colour and that she indeed looks like she is about to lose her breakfast.

"No Captain –" Before Mabel can finish her sentence; she covers her mouth with a hand and sprints towards the direction latrine.

"Hmph!" Captain Braxton huffs in outrage. "Ladies, tomorrow they may very well may only be the three of us left on this nursing staff. I will not stand for this type of uncivilized behavior under my command! Remember that you ladies represent Toccoa Camp as well as me when you are outside of this base. That's all I have to say for now. Dismissed, Lieutenant McDonald! Lieutenant Guarnere, please wait here for a moment."

Oh shit. God only knows what this is about!

After Lieutenant McDonald is out of earshot; Braxton crossed her hands behind her back and begins to dig into me, "Where are the rest of the graded exams from the 506th's Medic course? I thought they were all supposed to be graded and on my desk for approval by 08:00 this morning." She pauses briefly to glance downward at her wrist watch, "It's now, 09:13. Explain to me why they are late."

"No excuse, Ma'am. They will all be graded and on your desk no later than 09:45."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. It seems as if tardiness is a reoccurring issue in you performance here. Let's try to change that." Braxton states much like a crusty old school Marm would.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Dismissed Lieutenant."

We exchange salutes and before I turn around and head back to my tent. Once I am back within the safety of the canvas walls of my tent; I rest my head against the door and close my eyes.

That was worse than I had expected. What was with her comment, that Ms. Perky and I may be the only ones left by tomorrow morning?

Surely Mabel and I won't get separated… we can't! She is the only female friends I have managed to make in years. Without her by my side I don't what I'll do...

To make tomorrow even more daunting – I have to face Eugene again.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hello there! If any of my reader still remember that this fic exists. **

**I really do apologize for the huge break. Like I said in my author's note from before. Life has been shit for me this year. Depression, family issues, ect. just were weighing me down. Not that my Summer is much better. In July alone my 2014 Honda got sideswiped pretty badly in a hit and run ; I've managed to scrape up both of my ankles two times while hiking to the point that I can't even wear a shoe with a back for another month probably; and I've managed to burn the shit out of my middle finger (typing is fun as you can imagine). **

**However, this week I've just been focusing on myself and chilling out at my cabin. The result – I think I've written over 25,000 words in like 6 days alone. **

**Anyways, if you are an older reader and you've decided to come back – yay! And thank you so much. **

**For any readers that found my story just now or during my hiatus, thank you for taking interest in my little creation! **

**There are a lot of things I've realized that I somehow screwed up, ect in these opening chapters, so I my goal with this story is to fix one chapter – and then write/post a new one. **

**The annoying thing is though that I realized this week, when I was myself or my Mom was on a cleaning frenzy in the home office… my notebook of all my ww2 research for this story got thrown out… So I need to take time to find all of that again. -_-**

**One last thing, that I have been meaning to address for forever with this story is the 1****st**** person vs. 3****rd**** person thing. **

**I am only writing Viola in 1****st**** person, (Gene will get 2-3 special chapters written in 1****st**** person **wayyy **down the line), but that is it. **

**Why? Because yes this is a BoB story and I will write about Easy Company and the 101****st (duh)**** But once Easy gets into combat, and later on things also happen for Vi and Mabel, it's going to deal greatly with not just her relationship with Bill and our favorite Medic, but also about how Viola and how she deals with war; being a very independent woman in the 1940's.**

**The first person is to show ****Viola's story – at the end of the day it will be about how she deals with the war and how the people she loves are affected by it****. This DOES NOT mean that Easy Company we all love will be obsolete at all. Just that I'm doing a different take on a writing a BoB fanfic from what I've read on here before. **

**Also, with the 5 characters besides Viola that I am planning to focus on throughout the story – it's a hell of a lot easier to just do one 1****st**** person and the rest third. **

**I got a review about that it is confusing in some parts. If anybody feels like this, let me know and I am also open to suggestions about how to make this format more welcoming to readers! **

**So if you've managed to get to the end of this atrociously long author's note – thank for taking the time out of your busy day to read and please leave a review! :) **


	13. An Unexpected Interference

Mabel and I are standing in front of the full-length mirror in our tent, scrutinizing every detail of our appearance. I stood closest to the mirror seeing as that I am the shorter one while Mabel stood a few paces behind and to the left of me. Our hair and uniforms are so perfectly attuned to regulation standards, that our pictures should be published in a field manual.

It's only five minutes until we are due to arrive at morning formation. Alas, the dreaded moment of truth will be at hand, and we'll know if Mabel and I are to remain together or not.

"Do you think I'm going to make the cut, Vi?" Mabel asks in a quiet and weak voice.

Her subdued tone catches me off guard. She almost never loses the happy go lucky quality of her voice. She must be genuinely upset about what had happened at formation on Saturday morning. Obviously, Mabel is as frightened by the prospect of being separated as I am. I make eye contact with her in the mirror, set my jaw firm and told her in my most convincing tone possible.

"Yes, I do. By going over to Braxton's office yesterday evening, and apologizing to her your behaviour during morning formation, won you more than a few brownie points. You're a good nurse, Mabel. You take your duties seriously and work hard – that is all Braxton is looking for."

"You… you think so, Vi?" Mabel timidly prods for reaffirmation.

"Yes, I do." Mabel's demeanor improves a bit, so I urge her on, "Come on, let's get this over with so life can go back to abnormal around here."

As we walk out of our tent, I can tell that my words had a positive impact on her. The problem is that I am not one hundred percent confident about the stuff I said about Braxton…

* * *

"Ladies, it's nice to see_ all_ of you assembled this morning, for the _mandatory_, morning formation." Braxton begins to lecture us in her usual, firm tone. "Now I am not one to tip-toe around the ugly stuff, so let's get right into it. I will not tolerate my nurses tarnishing my reputation, nor this base's reputation by behaving like alcoholic maniacs!"

I can't help but flinch at the sound of Braxton's shrill voice, as her face becomes an ominous shade of red. I glance over my shoulder just slightly enough to catch a glimpse of Mabel beside. Unlike Braxton's, her complexion is a ghostly shade of white. I would reach my hand over and give her hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance if I could. Knowing Braxton though, she'd probably give me ten years of hard labour, chipping rocks at Leavenworth, for insubordination during formation…

I hear a small bout giggles come from the two blondes beside me. I immediately bring my eyes back to Braxton, to see her eyes darken with rage.

"That's it!" Braxton shouts, "Lieutenant Brooks, and Lieutenant Douglas, you are no longer members of the nursing staff at Toccoa base. Return to your quarters and pack your belongings immediately and then report to my office for your transfer orders. You are hereby dismissed!"

With bowed heads, Lieutenant's Brooks and Douglas salute and quickly get the hell out of dodge.

Braxton automatically returns their salutes. She then turns her attention back towards us remaining nurses. "This past Saturday night is never to be repeated – understood ladies?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Myself, along with the rest of the nurse's promptly respond.

"I will post a revised duty roster this afternoon with your extended shifts, seeing as that we are down two staff members. You are all dismissed, except for Lieutenant Guarnere." Braxton concludes.

I raise my arm in the customary salute. With my heart beating a like a freight train; I remain at attention as Mabel and the other two nurses depart. Once they are out of earshot, Braxton beings to walk towards me.

Once in front of me, she commands, "At ease Lieutenant."

I put my arms behind my body and grasp my hands together. The hot Georgia sun is beating down on my face, along with my raging nerves, allows beads of sweat to form at the crest of my scalp. Braxton narrows her gaze at me before, speaking.

"Lieutenant Guarnere, since the change of staff a month ago you have proven yourself to be a valuable asset to this base. Please report to my office at 13:00 hours for a meeting regarding your instruction of the medics for the 506th."

"Yes, Ma'am." I answer as I snap my arm into a salute.

"Dismissed, Lieutenant," Braxton says, as she returns my salute.

As I turn and walk away, I feel beyond thankful that Braxton recognized Mabel's many excellent qualities, on and off duty. I know that she would never consciously try to disgrace the uniform she wears.

On the other hand – a ball of anxious butterflies floats around in my stomach at the thought of what Braxton's meeting concerns.

* * *

Eugene Roe sighed as he watched the food server, spat the pink gelatin blob of _SPAM_ – along with runny powdered eggs – onto this plate. A dreary meal, to start what was most likely going to be a miserable Monday.

He knew that word had spread among the company about his monumental screw up at the pub, on Saturday night. The second he entered the Mess Hall, he noticed the snickers and glances he received as he made his way up to the serving station. Once he sat down, he made sure that his back was to the rest of the company to avoid them.

As irritating and embarrassing as it was – Eugene decided that he was going to stick to his plan and not let what happened on the weekend distract him. The inevitable taunts and offhanded comments that would follow him would eventually subside once the next guy in the company does something stupid. Knowing the personalities of the men in the company, and how hard they get pushed during training – it could only be a matter of days until they forget about his beer debacle.

Although, there was the matter of Sobel's outrageous punishment of latrine duty. Of course he had to have been plunked onto the week that Guarnere was on. Yesterday, Bill hadn't done anything too terrifying expect the odd death glare, so hopefully, no more incidences like the one in the shower will occur.

Eugene's gut felt heavy, as he pushed the disturbing mass meat around his tray with his fork. It wasn't from hunger – but from the thought of having to look Viola in the eye, in a matter of minutes.

Oh well, he wasn't there to find a girl – he was there to learn how to be the best damn paratrooper and medic in the entire 101st Airborne.

"Hiya Gene, mind if I sit with you. Noticed you were all alone." The kindred, southern voice of Darrell "Shifty" Powers, stirred the medic out of his thoughts.

"Oh, yeah sure if you want to," Eugene replied while shaking his head slowly, wondering how long he had been standing for. Once again, the thought of Viola had turned him into a mindless moron.

"Thanks," Shifty said in a warm tone. He watched for a moment as Gene resumed absentmindedly pushing the chunk of spam around his tray with his fork. Suspecting that the mixture of melancholy and worry plastered across his face was due to the gossip about the incident in the tavern – Shifty felt the need to speak up. "Hey pal, penny for your thoughts?"

Eugene's head snapped up in surprise. If it had been any other man in the Easy, he would have suspected his motives might have been fishy. But he knew that Shifty wasn't really the conniving type like Luz or Perconte.

"It's nothing I'm sure haven't heard about yet," Eugene muttered in a dry tone.

"Well, if you're referring to the incident with Guarnere's sister in the pub – I wouldn't let it get to you. You know how Bill can be. Just ignore him and it'll go away soon. As for the other guys, don't worry about it. I'm sure they've embarrassed themselves in front of a dame plenty a time. I know I have…" Shifty finished with a bit of a rosy colour to his cheeks.

Eugene's eyebrows rose in surprise. He had been telling himself the same thing since yesterday morning after latrine duty, however – hearing it from somebody else actually made the notion sink into his brain. He showed his acknowledgement and thanks with a small, but grateful smile.

Shifty nodded in return, happy to see that his message had gotten through to the medic.

Gene knew that he had to get his butt over to the hospital, or else he was going to be late for his class. So, he then gathered up his cutlery and tray said goodbye to Shifty.

Almost as soon as Gene had gotten up, his spot was replaced by Floyd Talbert, along with Popeye Wynn and Lipton. The pair set down their tray's and got right down to business. Unbeknownst to the medic, the little chat between he and Shifty had been planned out by not just Shifty – but by the other three men as well.

"So what did Gene say?" Lipton asked eagerly, but in a serious tone.

Lipton knew that the whole Roe vs. Guarnere debacle had to be quashed before any of the officers caught wind of it. It was better if it was dealt with quietly before the week began.

"It was good, I suppose," Shifty replied, "Although he didn't say too much."

"Does he ever?" Talbert retorted before he ate a forkful of eggs slathered in ketchup and salt to mask the flavour.

The men all nodded in agreement. Eugene Roe wasn't a man of many words most times.

"Well, at least, it's over with now," Lipton added.

"So I'm taking it you talked to Bill then?" Popeye asked Lipton.

After taking a sip of coffee, Lipton answered, "yes last night. Told me not to worry about it, that he had already dealt with the Cajun in his own way."

"The Cajun?" Talbert asked confused.

"Eugene," Lipton clarified. "That's what Bill referred to him as though."

Talbert, along with the other three men nodded.

"Is he Cajun? I thought I heard him say before that only his Mother was." Popeye had to ask.

"Who knows. I wonder why he has that cut on his forehead, though." Shifty commented.

"That's not a subject I think any of us should get into Darrell; not unless you want to have to get on Guarnere's bad side." Lipton said.

The men glanced at one another. Afterunspoken agreement, the men returned their attentions to their breakfasts. They only had a few minutes before they had to begin their day of training.

* * *

A knock on the door of the 506th Second Battalion C.P. caused both Major Strayer and Colonel Sink to look up from the paperwork on their desks and swivel around in their chairs.

"Pardon the intrusion, Sirs."

Colonel Sink immediately recognized the voice, stood up, and walked toward the doorway, to welcome Captain Braxton inside.

"Please come in, Captain," Sink welcomed as he beckoned her into the office with a wave of his hand.

"Thank you, Colonel," Braxton replied politely as she stepped inside.

"Ma'am," Major Strayer acknowledged the head nurse's presence.

"Major," Braxton responded. After Strayer had returned to his work, Braxton addressed the Colonel. "Sir, I was wondering if I might have a brief word with you outside."

"Of course Captain."

Once they both stepped outside, they walked a few steps away from the door so that Strayer couldn't eavesdrop.

With his hands behind his back and his posture stiff, Sink began the conversation. "So what can I do for you today, Catherine?"

"Well Bob, there's an idea I'd like to propose to you. I know full well that it isn't by the book, however…"

* * *

As the hot, dry, luxurious smoke from my cigarette traveled down my throat and eventually into my lungs – felt as if I was walking on clouds in heaven. I know that it's suppertime and that Mabel is probably saving me a seat in the Mess, but I don't care. I need a goddamned smoke after that class.

The content was a no brainer. All I explained was how to keep up a sterile as possible surgical field when working at an aid station. Afterwards, I handed back their first exams and explained where this and that went wrong on the written, as well as the common problems I noticed during their practical exam.

What made it the morning from hell, though, was the fact that every time I made contact with Eugene, he looked away. The worst part was when I handed back his paper (which he didn't do the best on), and I told him that he needs to do better next time on the written portion.

When he saw that red lettered grade on his paper, it looked like I had just informed him that his childhood pet dog had gotten run over by a truck.

Out of nowhere a hand is on my shoulder which makes me flinch in surprise. As I turn around, I'm not surprised to see that it's Mabel, looking rather indignant.

"Viola Susanna Guarnere. I have a bone to pick with you!" Mabel begins to scold me like I'm eight years old. "There I was, eating my lunch all alone because you were God knows where it happened!"

"When what happened?" I asked distractedly, only half listening to what she had just said.

"Are you that damn blind Viola?" Mabel jabs accompanied by an overdramatic eye roll.

Suddenly I see it – from her right boot, all the way up to her underneath her breast is oily bits of corned beef and some sort type of mystery goop. My drops open before a boisterous laugh escapes my lungs.

"What the hell–" I attempt to ask her what the fuck happened, but I cannot stop laughing for some reason.

"Private Fisher, that's what happened!" Mabel raised her voice, reading my mind.

I manage to calm myself down enough for a second to ask, "P-p-private Fisher?"

I know that the young private and orderly, just happens to have quite a shine on for Mabel.

"Because you weren't there sitting with me, he decided that it was a perfect time make his move. However, he miscalculated the distance between the table legs and his own feet! Next thing I know, he's flung over my lap like a dead fish, and I'm covered almost head to toe in three-day-old corned beef!" Mabel extenuates her unfortunate, but hilarious, mishaps with flailing hand gestures.

Halfway through her story, I am of course laughing my ass off, at her back luck. Why is it so funny? Well mainly it's not me getting publicly humiliated for once – and boy oh boy it sure feels good!

My hysteria is quickly quashed, however, when the Braxton's right-hand man, orderly Corporal Hansen, steps between Mabel and I. With a stone cold expression, he addresses me in a very unamused tone.

"Lieutenant Guarnere – Captain Braxton sent me to fetch you, and ask you why you are late for your scheduled meeting."

Shit. I must have been standing out here, chain smoking cigarettes longer than I had thought!

Without saying a word, I quickly pick up my feet and sprint towards the hospital, silently praying the whole time that Braxton won't bust me down to my socks for being late for the millionth time…

* * *

With laboured breathing, I commence knocking a bit too harshly, three times, on Braxton's office door. Within seconds, the door swings open and Braxton is standing only a foot in front of me. She purses her lips in eyes me in disdain.

Knowing what she is about to say, I speak up, "I apologize for my tardiness, Captain. I have no excuse."

"Mmmhm," Braxton mumbles unimpressed, before stepping aside and beckoning me inside.

I nod before I enter her khaki painted helm.

"Please take a seat Lieutenant. I'm sure you are familiar with Private Roe here."

* * *

The small squeak of surprise that escaped Viola's lips and the ghostly shade of white that her face turned mirrored what Eugene was feeling at that moment.

Why on God's green Earth would the head nurse want to have a meeting with he and Viola about, at the same time?

"Ah yes, I see that you two are familiar." Braxton's cold voice broke the panic induced, frozen state, that both young persons unwilling found themselves in.

"Uh, I – I am one of the Lieutenant's medical students." Eugene manages to articulate. His eyes were locked with Viola's as she pulled up a chair from the left corner and sat down.

"Y-yes, that's right Ma'am," Viola confirmed Gene's statement as she settled down into her chair while still focused on the now blushing Louisianan beside her.

"Uh huh," Braxton murmured aside to herself, "Now that we have the commonalities established, let us begin. Lieutenant Guarnere, your performance since arriving at Toccoa Camp has been exemplarity, despite your persistent tardiness…"

Now it was Viola's turn to blush.

"Thank you, Ma'am," Viola replied, still taken aback by the situation she found herself in.

"You're welcome." Braxton acknowledged her response before bridging into the speech she had been practising in her mind ever since she had her talk with Colonel Sink, in the morning. "The reason I have brought both of you together today, has to do with Corporal Roe's poor performance on the written portion last Friday's exam."

Eugene's breath hitched in anticipation and embarrassment. This was it. After multiple weeks of enduring Sobel's ungodly physical training and verbal abuse; the torture of Viola in his mind, and the oh so sobering realization that he was to be responsible for the lives of the men in his company... he was most likely going to be booted out of the role of medic for barely knowing how to read. Feeling the need to speak up, Eugene spoke out of turn.

"Ma'am I know that I –" Eugene got cut off by Braxton before he could explain himself.

"There's no need for that, Roe. I've been in this man's – or woman's Army I should say – long enough to know that the outstandingly positive remarks which Lieutenant Guarnere made about your practical evaluation, more than made up for the written test."

Eugene furrowed his brow in confusion at Braxton, before glancing to his left towards Viola. Viola, in turn, gave him a humble, yet warm nod of approval.

For the briefest of seconds, a sideways smirk formed on Braxton's face at the sight of Viola and Eugene's exchange. She cleared her throat to reassert authority before continuing with her point. "Young man, I have spoken to your regimental C.O., Bob Sink, and we've come up with a solution to keep you on track with your medical studies. After both you and Lieutenant Guarnere have finished your duties, you are both ordered to meet twice a week in one of the hospital classrooms, for a private tutoring session."

* * *

**Author's note: Hi everybody. Okay so I know I haven't updated since August. But life has taken a new turn for me. I have been busy as hell with my new college program. I write when I can, but since I'm studying to enter the veterinary medical field as a assistant/receptionist – school had kept me busy! Spring break had FINALLY given me the time to finish up this chapter. **

**I am excited to finally get this chapter out to you guys because it's the bridge between the introduction to the story, and now thing can really get rolling! I have not given up on this story, despite my erratic updates. The entire thing is literally written down in a journal, and I'll eventually publish the entire damn thing even if I'm forty by the time I do! **

**Anyways, I'd like to thank the several people that have followed/favorited/reviewed this story since the last chapter. **

**It really does mean the world to me, because this story really is my baby. I cannot wait until it progresses, and you all get to see just how Viola, Eugene, Bill, and all of the rest of the character's change and grow throughout the course of the plot and war. **

**I am very curious what you think about the curveball at the end of this chapter, and how it will progress now! **

**Thanks for reading, and please review – even a few words make my day! **

**Until next time, I wish you all the best. :D 3 **


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